Just One Moment
by shmalana
Summary: After a family tragedy, Willow Carter and her father move to Detroit. Just as her father's drinking becomes a serious issue, 16 year old Willow meets her guardian angel, Evelyn Mercer, and her four boys. Jack/OC T for now, but may go up to M.
1. Prologue

**Ok so bear with me through the prologue I just have to get the OC set up. I am really excited about this story and I hope you guys like it!**

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They say when you're dying your life flashes before your eyes. I always thought that was kind of stupid until it happened to me. It's actually more like a highlights reel of your life; only showing you the really important things.

Like when I was five and Daddy came home from the hospital with my baby brother, Derek Matthew Carter Jr., but Mom wasn't with him. After I got over being amazed by my new brother's tiny toes, tiny fingers, tiny nose, and tiny eyes that were the exact same celery green color as mine when they were open, I realized that my mom wasn't there. I asked Daddy where she was as he was putting Derek in his crib and I remember how he tensed up and then relaxed like he didn't have anything left in him. I remember how when he turned around and knelt on the ground in front of me his face was wet with tears. I remember reaching out my little hands and putting them on his face, amazed by the fact that the mountain of a man that was my father was crying, as he said "Willow, baby, Mommy isn't coming home. She had to go away and she can't come back."

That didn't make sense to me. Why would she leave when we had this fun new baby to play with? "Like on vacation?" I asked, "Is her car broken? Is that why she can't come back? We can go get her Daddy. Let's go right now." I think deep down I understood that Mom was never coming back because I had started crying too.

My Dad shook his head, shoulders sagging even more as he did. "No baby girl, Mommy can't come home. Her car isn't broken. We can't go get her. Remember how when your fish got sick and he had to go away and he went to fish heaven? Well Mommy had to go away like that. She had to go to heaven."

Or like the first day of school after Mom died and I couldn't do my own hair because the ribbon kept slipping out of my fingers. I asked my dad to help me and I could smell the beer on his breath as he tied the yellow ribbon in my auburn hair. I was only five, but I knew something wasn't right with Daddy then. He always seemed so sad and he always seemed to have a beer in his hand.

Or like when Derek said his first words and when Derek took his first steps. Daddy said I looked like a proud momma hen, clucking over him and helping him and cheering him on. All while Daddy cheered too, sitting down his beer for just a moment to pick Derek up and swing him around.

I guess nothing else that important happened until that day at the beach when I was fifteen and Derek was ten. Daddy was sitting in his beach chair, drinking a beer, laughing at me and Derek trying to build a sand castle. I turned to stick my tongue out at him and when I turned to look back at Derek I couldn't find him anywhere. I looked frantically around the beach trying to find him. I called his name, hearing the panic in my voice rising every time. Daddy realized what was wrong a second later and joined in the search. Then I saw him. He was in the water, maybe 100 feet out, head bobbing as he was whisked away from me. I ran into the water and began swimming towards my baby brother, trying to keep an eye on him at the same time. A few seconds after I got to the deeper water I realized what the problem was. Derek was caught in a riptide and so was I. I could feel the water pulling and sucking me towards open sea. I couldn't see Derek and I couldn't hear his cries for help. I tried swimming parallel to the shore like I had always been told to do, keeping an eye out for Derek at the same time, but I was too tired. I thought I was done for until I felt a pair of hands pull me up and drag me back to the sand. I coughed up water and looked around me gasping for air. Daddy was sitting a few yards away, beer can forgotten on the ground next to him, his mouth hanging open as he stared out to sea, eyes searching desperately for his little boy.

A week after the beach and three days after we buried an empty coffin Daddy and I left Georgia and headed to Detroit. Daddy had grown up there and his mom had left her house to him when she died a year before. I didn't want to leave home, but I also didn't want to live in the same house as my brother's ghost. I could feel him everywhere in that house, so I didn't put up a fight when Daddy moved us to Detroit.

The house was pretty rundown, but it fit in with the rest of houses on the street. There were kids in the street playing hockey and running around. I didn't see any girls my age, but every now and then I thought I caught glimpses of a tall, gangly, blonde boy who looked about my age coming and going from the house at the opposite end of the street.

Everything was ok for the first week of getting settled. Then came the binge drinking. Something in Daddy snapped when it sank in that Derek was never coming back so he drowned his sorrows in booze. He would drink, get angry, yell at me, and then disappear for a few days before he came stumbling back into the house, reeking of alcohol and telling me he was sorry. He never raised a hand to me though.

I handled my grief in a different way. On my 16th birthday, as soon as I found a place that would allow it, I got a tattoo. I got it on my collarbone and it said "I'll Fly Away". It was something Mom always said to me and oddly enough Derek would say it to me. Whenever he got in trouble and I asked him what he was going to do about it he would say "I'll fly away". I cut off my long, auburn hair to a shoulder length bob. I got my eyebrow pierced, nose rings always freaked me out for some reason. I traded in my shorts and bright tank tops for bulky, funky sweaters that swallowed me whole, jeans and clunky, brown military boots.

Dad and I had a routine. He would drink, I would clean up after him, he would disappear, I would cover for him, he would come back and tell me he was sorry, I would forgive him, and repeat. Over and over again.

Until the one year anniversary of Derek's death, two months after my 16th birthday. Dad went a little overboard with the Jack Daniels that day and that was the first time he hit me. That was the day my life changed and it was for the better surprisingly.

I ran out of the house to get away from his pathetic apologies. My lip was throbbing and I could feel the blood trickle down my chin. I knew my eye was probably already turning black too, I always did bruise easily. I stormed down the sidewalk, not caring where I was going, and wiped angrily at the blood dripping from my lip. I winced as I hit the cut too hard and felt the tears stream down my cheeks. I felt the wind cutting through my sweater and mentally kicked myself for forgetting my jacket. As I was thinking about how stupid I was I heard a voice call out to me. "Sweetie, are you ok?"

I whipped my head around, looking for whoever had spoken, and that was the first time I saw the woman who changed my life. She was sitting on her porch, knitting needles in hand, looking at me with concern in her eyes. As soon as she saw my face I saw the concern change to resolve. "Oh dear." She said, shaking her head. She motioned for me to come towards her. "Come inside sweetie. Let's take a look at that eye and see if we can't get you cleaned up a bit."

Now I know you aren't supposed to go into stranger's houses, but I doubted this sweet looking old lady with white hair in a bright blue sweater was going to cook me up in a Willow-pot-pie. Plus, this was the house I had seen that tall blonde boy go in and out of. So I went up to her. "What's your name sweetheart?" She asked me.

I shuffled my feet, trying to regain feeling in my toes, and then looked her in the eye. "Willow Carter ma'am." I said quietly.

"Well Willow Carter, my name is Evelyn Mercer." She said with a smile. "Now why don't we see if we can fix you up some and get you out of this cold."

I remember reading somewhere that just one moment can change your life forever. The moment I stepped into that house was the moment everything changed.

I keep hearing a voice. It's telling me not to leave. It's such a nice voice, but I can't see who is talking. He keeps telling me to hang on, to keep fighting.

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**I hope you guys liked it! I will update soon. Hopefully you stick with it so you can figure out why she is dying and who the voice is. It will all make sense if you just stick with me. Review if you wish!  
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	2. Chapter 1

**Ok, so now we get to the fun stuff with the Mercer boys! Enjoy!**

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I was hit with a rush of warm air and the sounds of a hockey game blasting from the television as I entered Miss Evelyn's house. I could smell food cooking and my mouth watered. I couldn't remember the last time I had had a home cooked meal that didn't consist of Ramen Noodles or Easy Mac.

"Right this way sweetie." Miss Evelyn gestured for me to follow her into a small bathroom. "Sit right here and I'll go get something to put on that eye of yours."

As I sat on the edge of the tub I took in my surroundings. The wall paper was cracking and flaking is some places, but from what I had seen this house was in much better shape than mine. I was rubbing at a scuff on the linoleum floor with the toe of my boot when a shadow fell over me. I froze, afraid to look up because I didn't want whoever it was to see my black eye. "Who are you?" I heard a deep voice ask and I slowly looked up as the guy turned to yell, "Hey Ma! There's some girl in the bathroom. You know somethin' about this?"

Miss Evelyn popped up behind the guy, who I recognized as the blonde boy I had seen before, with a bag of frozen peas in her hand. "Jack Mercer, of course I know there is 'some girl' in my bathroom," she said pushing past him. "Put these on your eye sweetie, you can help me defrost them a little before I put them in the casserole." She whispered with a wink as she turned to the boy. "Her name is Willow. Now give her some space Jackie. Go watch the game with your brothers or help me cook. We still have a lot of preparing to do for Thanksgiving tomorrow." She turned back to me as Jack left. "Now, would you like to tell me what caused that shiner and your busted lip?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips.

I froze for a split second. I didn't want to tell her it was my dad. He had never hit me before and he probably wouldn't do it again. I didn't want her reporting him to the cops. I couldn't let anyone split us up. I cleared my throat and looked at her. "I ran into the doorframe. I wasn't lookin' while I was texting some friends from home and I'm still not used to the new house. When I looked up I ran smack into the corner of the doorframe and hit my face real hard on it. I was crying because it hurt and I was embarrassed." I answered quickly.

"Mmhhmm." She pursed her lips as she looked at me, clearly not believing my story, but not wanting to call me a liar. "You can use the sink and that washcloth to clean up your face and then you can keep those peas on your eye and watch the hockey game with the boys or you can come sit in the kitchen with me." And then she was gone.

Thanksgiving? Was it really Thanksgiving tomorrow? I guess we didn't celebrate last year because of what happened to Derek. Now that I think about it, we were at the beach for Thanksgiving. It was some weird tradition we had.

I stood up, took the peas off of my eye, and went to look in the mirror. "Damn Willow, you are looking rough." I whispered to myself. All around my right eye was dark with the forming bruise and I could barely keep the eye open. My lip was swollen too, but at least it had stopped bleeding. I splashed some water on my face to freshen up and then put the peas back over my eye. Poking my head out the door, I tried to decide where to go. Miss Evelyn had said I could either sit in the kitchen or watch the game with the boys. I didn't know that there were boys. I had always just thought it was the one guy, Jack was his name.

I couldn't decide where to go, but thankfully, seconds later, Miss Evelyn came to my rescue. "Why don't I introduce you to my sons Willow?"

"Ok." I said quietly with a nod of my head.

She gently took hold of my arm and led me into the living room. There were four guys in there, two white guys and two black. _Her boys?_ I thought laughing to myself. _The only one in this room who could qualify as a boy is Jack. The rest of these guys look like grown men._

"Willow, these are my sons. That's Bobby, he's my oldest, that's Jeremiah, that's Angel, and you've met Jack already." As she was introducing me, she had strategically placed us in front of the television that the guys were so intently watching.

"Ma! You're blocking the game!" The one she said was Bobby was craning his neck, trying to see around the little old lady.

"Bobby Mercer, where are your manners? Did you forget them all while you were gone? We have a guest and I am trying to introduce you to her." She put her hands on her hips and gave him a reprimanding look.

Bobby settled back on the couch. "Sorry Ma, what were you saying?"

"This is Willow Carter. She is Elaine Carter's granddaughter. Isn't that right sweetie?" She looked at me to make sure she had introduced me correctly.

I didn't know she had known my grandmother. Hell, I didn't even know the woman. "Yes ma'am." I said nodding my head. "Grandma Elaine was my dad's mom. She left him the house when she died. We moved here from Georgia about a year ago after…" I trailed off.

Miss Evelyn patted my shoulder and then turned to the guys. "Willow is going to sit with you guys until she feels a little better. So you boys make her feel at home you hear." And with that she turned and walked out of the room.

I stood there, awkwardly looking at the guys in front of me. Jeremiah and Angel had their own chairs while Jack and Bobby were on the couch. I shifted nervously and looked around, not quite sure what to do. The bag of frozen peas in my hand was slowly defrosting and had started to drip on the floor. Just as I was about to explode from the awkwardness in the room, Jack and Bobby scooted apart, making a spot for me on the couch. Bobby smiled and patted the now empty cushion next to him.

Breathing a sigh of relief I went and sat between the two Mercer boys and put the bag of peas back over my now throbbing eye.

"So, your name's Willow?" I heard Angel ask.

I nodded, not feeling like talking because it only made my lip hurt worse.

"Hmm, weird name." He said almost too quietly for me to hear.

I felt my face flush as the blood rushed to it. I had gotten a lot of crap for my name when I was little. Kids thought it was funny that I had the same name as a tree. "You're one to talk. Angel is a weirder name than Willow. Willows bend, but they don't break. That's why my mom named me that. Did they name you Angel because they wanted you to be something you aren't?" I shot back at him as I felt my face turn a deeper shade of red. I shouldn't have said that, but I couldn't help it. I didn't even know the guy well enough to say something like that, but I hated people making fun of my name when I liked it so much.

You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife as Angel and I looked at each other. I was about to get up and leave when I suddenly saw a flash of bright, white teeth and heard a laugh rumble from Angel. Picking up on Angel's laugh, all of the Mercer boys started to laugh. Jeremiah showed his big white teeth as he laughed and said "Oooohh Ma brought a feisty one home today."

Bobby nudged my arm with his fist as he laughed with his brothers. "I like you Willow. You could hold your own around here." He sank back into the couch, still laughing quietly as the other's laughter died down and their attention turned to the game once again.

"Hey, I'm sorry I said your name was weird." Angel said with a smile. "I was just joking."

I smiled back at him, "It's ok. I just got made fun of for it when I was little so I still get kind of defensive about it."

"Ooohh look at those dimples!" Bobby poked me on the cheek as I smiled. "Jackie, if you weren't such a fairy you could go for this one here."

I blushed and sank down into the couch a little, looking at Jack out of the corner of my eye. He looked just about as uncomfortable as I did and then he stood up quickly. "I'm gonna go see if Ma needs any help."

After the guys finished laughing at Jack and poking my dimples they settled down to watch the rest of the game.

As soon as the game finished, Miss Evelyn showed up in the doorway. "Dinner is ready boys. Willow, you are more than welcome to join us if you'd like to."

I shifted uncomfortably. "Oh I don't want to intrude Miss Evelyn." Actually, that is all I wanted to do. I was practically salivating just at the thought of a real home cooked meal, but I didn't want to seem desperate.

She shook her head, laughing. "Sweetie, I invited you so there is no way you are intruding. Hand me those peas and come sit with us. Oh and call me Miss Evie. Kids only call me Miss Evelyn when they are in trouble."

After I handed her the peas, I followed her and the boys into the dining room. There was only one empty chair left at the table, across from Jack and next to Miss Evie, so I sat in that one. I smiled to myself when I saw that there was already a plate piled high with food in front of my seat. She had been so confident I would stay for dinner that she had gone ahead and set a place for me.

"Let us say grace" Miss Evie reached her hands out and nodded for me to take one. Hesitating for a moment, I grabbed her hand at the same time Jack grabbed the other. I looked to my right and saw Angel reaching his hand out towards me and I took it. We all bowed our heads together and Miss Evie continued. "Lord, thank you for this food that you have given us. Thank you for Jack, who helped me make it and thank you for Jerry, Bobby, and Angel, who are going to eat all of it. And Lord, thank you for brining Willow to us tonight. We are so grateful. In your name, Amen."

We all dropped each other's hands and sat down after saying our "Amens". I picked up my fork and began eating quickly, enjoying every bite of the delicious food in front of me. I had cleaned off about half of my plate when I looked up. Everyone but Miss Evie was staring at me like I had sprouted another head. Then, Bobby broke the silence. "Damn girl, slow down. Your food isn't gonna run off of your plate."

The other Mercer boys snickered as their mother looked up quickly. "Bobby Mercer, watch your language!" She corrected.

"Sorry Ma." Bobby said laughing with his brothers and turning his attention back to his food.

I started eating my food slower, deciding to savor every bite instead of just wolfing it down.

Everyone finished eating their food and I went into the kitchen to help Miss Evie with the dishes.

"Oh Willow, you don't have to do that." She said as I started rinsing off dishes.

"It's no problem. It's the least I can do to thank you for that amazing food Miss Evie. It's been a while since I've had a meal like that." I said quietly, focusing on a stubborn piece of food that refused to let go of the plate.

Jack showed up next to me a second later. "You wash, I dry?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Losing my voice for a second, I just stared at him. Then, realizing that I probably looked like a freak, just staring at him, I cleared my throat. "Yeah, that works! Thanks!" I said a little too enthusiastically. I kicked myself mentally for being such a spaz.

We washed and dried in silence for a few minutes until Jack finally broke the silence. "So how come I haven't seen you around if you have been here for a year now?" He asked, looking unsure about his decision to speak.

"I've been homeschooled ever since we moved here. I needed to be at home to take care of my dad; he hasn't been doing so well since we moved here. I'm thinking about starting regular in the spring though. Dad can handle himself now." I said the last part quietly, gritting my teeth in anger. Sure I didn't want Dad to get in trouble for slipping up and hitting me this once, but that didn't mean I wasn't mad at him.

Jack nodded his head and didn't say anything else. I guess that was all the conversation he required and I was just fine with that.

After finishing the dishes, I figured it was time to go home. I headed towards the door and turned to say goodbye when Miss Evie handed me a plate of food covered with saran wrap. "Oh, thanks, I don't need it though." I said blushing.

"Take it sweetie; these boys don't need any more food." She said with a smile. "Bobby, Jackie, why don't you two walk Willow home. I don't want her walking by herself at this time of night."

Jack and Bobby nodded and walked towards me, but Miss Evie grabbed Bobby by the arm and whispered something in his ear before letting him go. He looked at me, no doubt taking in the glory of my black eye and busted lip, and then looked back at his mother, nodding before walking over to me. "Come on small fry." He said putting an arm around me and steering me out the door. "Come on Fairy!" He shouted over his shoulder to Jack, who quickly caught up with us.

The three of us walked side by side down the street, our feet leaving tracks in the snow. The wind blew past us, cutting through my sweater, and I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering as I pulled my sleeves over my freezing fingers. Suddenly, I felt something warm come over my shoulders and smelled a faint smell of leather. I looked up and saw that it was Jack's jacket around me. "Thanks Jack." I said quietly, pulling the jacket tighter around me.

He looked me in the eye for a second and shrugged. "You need it more than I do. Southerners can't handle the cold."

I thought he smiled for a split second, but I could have imagined it. Jack didn't seem like the type to go around handing out smiles to everyone.

We finally reached my house and I handed Jack his jacket when we reached the bottom step of the porch. "Thanks for the jacket and thanks for walking me home guys." I said with a smile.

Just as I finished speaking, the front door burst open, revealing my father standing in the doorway, red-faced and in a rage. "Where the hell have you been Willow?" He yelled. Bobby stepped in front of me and Jack stood a little closer to me. "Who the hell are these guys? Willow, who are you bringing to my house?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could say anything Bobby spoke up. "Sir, we're Evelyn Mercer's boys. I'm Bobby and this is Jack." He said gesturing behind him. "Willow was just over at our house eating some food and we wanted to walk her back to make sure she got back safe."

"We don't need your help! Willow doesn't need your food!" Dad was really in top form tonight. He started to walk towards us, but he had really had too much to drink because the movement caused him to lose his balance and fall forward on the porch.

"Daddy!" I shouted as I pushed past Bobby and ran up the step towards my dad. His eyes were closed, but he was breathing. "Damnit Daddy. What are you doing to yourself?" I whispered as I felt tears begin to gather in my eyes. I looked up at Bobby and Jack, eyes pleading. "Can you help me get him inside? I just need to get him on the couch. Please?" My voice shook as I looked first Bobby, then Jack in the eyes.

Jack looked scared, like he was remembering something terrible, but he broke out of it as Bobby touched him on the shoulder. They came up the stairs and picked up my dad, Bobby at his shoulders and Jack at his feet. I held the door open as they took him inside and set him on the couch. Jack backed up quickly, like he was afraid of my dad and what he might do if he woke up. He jumped a little as I put my hand on his arm. "Thanks Jack. You too Bobby." I said, turning to look at Bobby who was now by the door.

"No problem." Jack said quickly, heading over to the door.

I walked over to close and lock the door behind them. As I reached for the knob, Bobby grabbed by arm and looked me in the eye, looking deadly serious. "If you ever need any help, just yell. One of us will hear you. Ma wanted me to tell you that you ever need a safe place to stay you're always welcome at our house. Okay?"

I nodded my head. "Thank you." He let go of my arm and turned to go. "Bobby?" I called after him. "Can you guys not say anything about my dad? Please? I've got it under control. If things get too bad then I will tell someone."

Bobby and Jack both looked at me, sad looks on their faces as they nodded.

I stood in the doorway, watching them walk away and thanking God for sending me the Mercers in case I needed them.

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**Thanks so much for reading! Review if you wish (getting reviews really motivates me to write, but I'll still write without them). I already have a couple of chapters written, but it will usually be a few days between updates because I am taking a summer class and working two jobs. Rough times.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Ok, so you guys are getting spoiled. I usually don't update this fast, but I am a little ahead on my writing so I wanted to give you guys the next chapter!**

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It had been a month since my dad hit me and so far I hadn't had to take the Mercer's up on their offer of a safe place to stay. I was actually catching myself hoping that dad would sober up for good this time. I hoped too soon though.

Today was the day that Jack was supposed to teach me how to ice skate. Bobby had left town, something that he did often apparently, Jerry had moved into an apartment with his girlfriend Camille, and Angel had signed up to join the Marines, so he was busy saying goodbye to his girl Sofie, fondly known as La Vida Loca around the Mercer household. This left me and Jack to hang out a lot since Jack didn't really have a lot of friends other than me and I didn't really know anyone other than the Mercers.

I walked down the stairs after finally figuring out what to wear. I had decided on my boots, jeans, and my favorite sweater, the one with the giant, brightly colored elephants on it. I stopped in my tracks as soon as I hit the bottom step though. My dad was sitting on the couch, a bottle of whiskey in his hand, staring slack-jawed at the TV in front of him. I pushed down the anger that welled up inside of me at the realization that my dad was hammered and it was only nine in the morning. Slowly, as if I was approaching a wild animal, I walked up to my dad and reached for the bottle of whiskey in his hand. "Daddy, it's time to give the whiskey a rest ok?"

My hand had barely touched the neck of the bottle before my dad's eyes focused on me and his hand came flying towards my face. The force of the backhanded slap knocked me away from him and onto the coffee table, scattering empty beer cans and bottles across the room. "Damnit Willow! Look at the mess you made!" His face slowly turned red as I looked up at him wide-eyed. "You heard me! Clean up this shit!"

I shook my head slowly, trying to get the world to come back into focus before I stood up. Slowly, I got up from the coffee table and started walking towards the door, tears clouding my vision. As I put my hand on the door knob I felt a hand wind its way through my hair and yank me back. I yelped, startled by the pain, and scrambled to free myself. He threw me on the ground and I scooted backwards away from him and towards the door. "You heard me you little bitch, clean up the mess you made!" He huffed as he lumbered towards me like an angry bear. I stood up quickly, wincing at the pain in my head, and fumbled with the doorknob.

I got it open just as my dad reached for me and I hurried outside. I had barely reached the steps when my dad's large hand reached for the back of my shirt so he could pull me back. He missed, but his hand hit me hard enough to where I was pushed forward down the steps. I landed on my wrist and heard a crunch.

My dad struggled to find his footing to get down the steps to me and I took this delay to get up and run down the street to the Mercer house. I heard my dad start up the car as I was almost halfway there and I ran even faster. By the time I had reached their front porch my dad had managed to get the car out of the driveway and was headed my way. I knocked on the door frantically, cradling my throbbing wrist against my chest. Jack opened the door and barely had time to ask what was wrong before I pushed him out of the way and practically fell into his house.

I looked out the window as my dad's car slowed down in front of the house and then, after he realized I wasn't outside anymore, continued on down the street and around a corner. I breathed a sigh of relief, put my back to the wall, and slid down onto the ground.

Jack was looking at me with a startled and confused expression on his face. Finally he found his voice. "What the hell was that all about Willow?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself down before I answered him. "Nothing Jack," I said shaking my head, "it was nothing. I slipped and fell down the steps to the porch and hurt my wrist. Dad wanted to drive me to the hospital, but he had been drinking so I didn't want to get in the car with him." Jack looked like he didn't believe me. "Really Jack that was it."

Jack shook his head. "Yeah, and the ground just reached up and slapped you across the face when you fell too. Why do you stick up for him Wills? He doesn't deserve it. You need to stop covering for him. Just tell someone the truth so you can be safe at least."

Jack looked at me with those baby blues of his and I felt my resolve to defend my dad weaken. I would never say it out loud, but I had a crush on Jack, a big whoppin' crush. Then I looked away from his eyes and down at my wrist cradled in my lap. "I don't know what you are talking about Jack. And you don't know what we've been through Jack. It's hard on him." I whispered sadly.

Then I looked up at him smiling and I reached out my hand that wasn't hurting. "Help me up. Aren't we supposed to be learnin' how to ice skate today?"

He grabbed my hand and pulled me up quickly, accidentally jostling my injured wrist. I winced and felt tears well up in my eyes from the pain. "I don't think we are going to be doing any skating until you get that wrist looked at." He looked at me with worry in his eyes as he guided me to the couch. I sat down and Jack knelt down in front of me. "Let me see." He said, holding his hands out.

I put my hand into his, blushing, and he closed the fingers of one hand around mine as he turn my hand slowly, testing my wrist. I winced with just the slightest movement and as he put pressure where the pain was. "Ow ow ow!" I yelped, pulling my hand away from his and cradling it protectively against my chest. I was fighting back tears now and the pain was almost too much.

Jack's eyes were wide with worry now as he sat next to me on the couch. "Whoa there, I'm sorry. It's gonna be ok. We'll get Ma to take you to the hospital when she gets home. Everything is going to be fine." He patted me awkwardly on the shoulder as he said this. Over the past month I had learned three very important things about Jack. One, he will be a famous musician one day. Two, he hates when people yell and argue. I think something about it reminds him of what happened to him before Miss Evie got him. And three, Jack doesn't do very well with touching. Like he isn't very good at initiating physical contact with other people. I think his past foster homes were places where they hit him, but I'll probably never know.

I leaned into Jack's side and brought my legs up, curling into a ball around my injured wrist. Tears were escaping the corner of my eyes as the pain became too much. "It hurts Jackie." I whimpered.

At that, Jack put his arm around me, starting up that butterflies in your stomach feeling despite the pain. "Shhh, Ma will be home any minute now and she'll take you to the hospital. The doctors will fix you up and everything will be ok."

"Will you go too Jackie?" I looked up at Jack, eyes wide and pleading.

I saw him hesitate and look around the room uncomfortably. Then he looked back at me. "Yeah. Yeah, of course."

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Finally, Miss Evie showed up and rushed me to the emergency room. After two hours of waiting, two hours of Jack pacing and chewing his fingernails like he did when he was nervous or worried, and two hours of Miss Evie fussing at the people behind the desk about how I needed to be seen immediately, the doctor finally took me back for some x-rays.

It turned out I had broken my wrist so the doctor put me in a cast, gave me some painkillers, and told me to take it easy. I was walking next to Jack as we left the hospital and I looked up at him. "So I guess no ice skating lesson for a while huh?"

"If you promise to take it easy Ma might still let me take you out tomorrow to teach you." He said, giving me one of those rare Jackie smiles.

I smiled back at him, dimples and all. "I swear I'll be careful! But maybe we can wait until tomorrow because the pain killers are great and all, but they aren't doing good things for my balance."

"Deal." He said as we got in the car.

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When we got to Miss Evie's house Angel and Jerry were waiting for us on the front porch. Jerry was there to help as soon as the car pulled to a stop and Angel was close behind. "What are you guys doing?" I asked as Jerry helped me climb out of the car.

"Ma called and told us you broke your wrist." Jerry explained.

"Yeah, do we need to go have a talk with your dad?" Angel asked, obviously ready to give my dad a piece of his mind.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Jack got to the answer before me. "Nah man, she fell down the stairs because they were slippery. Old man Carter didn't lay a hand on her." He said sarcastically.

"It's true. He didn't do anything." I knew Jack's answer had been sarcastic, but I didn't want the guys getting into anything with my dad.

"Mmhhmm, sure." Angel and Jerry said at the same time, shaking their heads at me, causing me to blush.

"You didn't call Bobby did you Miss Evie?" I asked suddenly. Out of the Mercer boys, Bobby was the one who was most likely to throw a punch in my dad's direction no matter what I said.

"I left a message on his phone. He would want to know that you were hurt Willow." She explained when I shot her an exasperated look. "And no matter what you say about your dad, I would like it if you stayed here for just a few days to rest where you have people who will help you."

I knew my dad probably wouldn't be home again for a few days anyways. That's how he was. He would get wasted and disappear for four or five days at a time and then show back up ready to make nice again. "Sure Miss Evie. I need to get some stuff from the house though.

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Later that night I was putting some of my clothes into the drawers in the room Miss Evie had me staying in. Dinner had been a quite affair. Jerry went home to Camille so it was just me, Angel, Jack, and Miss Evie. I could tell that none of them believed my falling story, but I didn't care at this point. We ate our food in silence, cleaned up in silence, and then went our separate ways.

As I finished putting away my clothes I could hear music coming from Jack's room through the wall that we shared. I went into the hallway and knocked softly on Jack's door. "Come in." I heard him say.

"Hey." I said softly as I pushed open the door. I crossed the room to where Jack was sitting on his bed. I sat on the foot of the bed and leaned my back against the wall. "What are you working on?" I asked turning my head to look at him.

Jack's eyes lit up like they always did when he talked about his music. "Oh nothing much it's just a song."

"Can I hear some of it?"

"Yeah, it's not finished though so go easy on me." He leaned his head forward as he began to strum on the guitar and he hummed along quietly.

When he finished he looked up at me, ready to hear what I had to say. "That was amazing Jack. You are going to be so famous one day and you are going to forget all about little old me."

He looked down and blushed just a little. "Nah, I don't know about that."

"Well I do Jack, so just prepare yourself for your oncoming fame." I said smiling at him.

Jack rubbed his arm absentmindedly, trying to think of a subject change to get the focus off of him. "So you're starting real school in a few weeks aren't you?"

I rolled my eyes, trying to act indifferent, even though I was actually really excited about starting school in the spring. "Yeah I am. It's no big deal though. It's just school."

"Yeah that's true." He said shrugging. "I guess I'll be seeing you a lot more then."

"It's not like we don't already see each other practically every day Jack. It won't be that big of a change." I laughed and then yawned. "I guess I should go to bed, these pain killers are getting to me." I reached over and ruffled his hair with my good hand. "Night Jackie."

"Night Wills."

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_I was swimming, racing to get to him in time, but he was too far away. I couldn't get to him fast enough. I felt cold hands wrap around my ankles and pull me under the racing water. I looked around me at my underwater surroundings. I could see him, staring at me under the water, just a few feet away. Bubbles escaped from his mouth as he opened it to speak. "Willow, why didn't you save me? Why didn't you help me? You knew Daddy couldn't get me. Why did you let me die? It's all your fault Willow. It's your fault I died."_

_I shook my head and opened my mouth to tell him no, but as soon as I opened my mouth water came rushing in. I couldn't get above water. I was going to die._

_I felt someone grab my shoulder. "Willow, Willow wake up. You need to wake up Wills."_

I opened my eyes, gasping for air as I sat up in the bed. I looked around frantically until my eyes settled on Jack. He was sitting in front of me, blue eyes filled with concern. As soon as my eyes met his, I broke down. My body shook with the force of the sobs that were racking my body. I brought my knees up to my chest, trying to hold it all in, but I couldn't. At some point Jack had sad down on the bed next to me and he had wrapped his arms around me. "Shhhh, shhhh. It's ok Willow. It was just a bad dream, that's all. It wasn't real. Just breathe and everything will be ok."

I shook my head. "It was real Jack. It really happened. Oh, it was so awful. It was all my fault." I turned my head into his shoulder and closed my eyes, trying to block it all out. "It was my fault he died." None of the Mercers knew about Derek. I had never talked about him before, but after that dream I couldn't hold it in anymore.

My sobs calmed down as I scooted back away from Jack. I needed to be able to look him eye when I told him. As I leaned back against the wall, I wrapped my arms around my legs, took a deep breath, and it all came spilling out. I told him everything. About the first day Dad brought Derek home without Mom, helping to teach Derek how to walk and talk, and that fateful day on the beach when my sweet baby brother died on my watch.

We looked at each other in silence for a few seconds, blue eyes meeting green. "It wasn't your fault Wills." He finally said, breaking the silence. "You couldn't have stopped it." He reached out and put his hand on my arm, willing me to believe what he was saying.

I shook my head, tears coming back. "But if I hadn't looked away, if I had just paid more attention to him, he might still be alive."

"Willow, you were fifteen and it wasn't you job to be his mom. Your dad should have paid closer attention to him, but it wasn't anyone's fault." He blinked his eyes quickly and shook his head slightly as if remembering something he didn't want to. "Sometimes things happen to us that we can't do anything to control. We can't always stop the bad things."

Jack was the one who looked like he needed a hug now. Like he couldn't stop the bad times from rushing back, like all of the bad things he couldn't stop were flooding into his mind. I scooted closer to him and put my arm around his waist, he was too tall for me to get my arm over his shoulder when his was sitting up straight. I leaned my head on his shoulder, "It's ok Jackie." I whispered, giving him a squeeze.

He shook his head, ran his hand through his hair, and took a deep breath before standing up. "Are you ok Jack?" I asked him.

He nodded, "Are _you_ ok Wills?"

I looked down at my hands. I didn't know if I would be able to go to sleep after that dream. "Could you stay with me maybe Jackie? At least until I go to sleep?"

"Yeah."

I scooted under the covers and made some room for him on the bed. He got on the bad, but didn't get under the covers. I guess he didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea. I smiled as he settled in next to me and I turned to face him. "Thanks Jackie." I said quietly as I closed my eyes.

"No problem Wills." And I thought I saw him smile just before my eyes closed.

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**I hope you guys liked it! I probably won't update for a few days because I couldn't stop myself from jumping ahead and writing a couple of the future chapters that are really important so I have to focus and get back on track now. Thank you BriBri028 for your reviews! If anyone else is reading the story, don't be shy, I love reviews, even the bad ones because they help me get better!.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Ok so since you guys are so awesome and gave me so many reviews I am posting another chapter a lot sooner than I planned. Enjoy!**

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I woke up in the morning, a little disoriented by my unfamiliar surroundings. Then I remembered I had stayed the night at Miss Evie's house and that Jack was in my bed. _Jack was in my bed. Holy shit!_ My heart stopped in my chest for a second as I realized that the arm slung over my waist belong to Jack, and so did the body that was pressed against my back. I slowly turned around so that I was facing Jack. His face was realized and I had never seen him look so peaceful. Jack almost always had some kind of worried or scared look hidden deep in his eyes. I smoothed his hair away from his face and then slowly tried to get out of bed without waking him.

I tugged on an oversized hoodie and walked out of the room. I could hear the sounds of Miss Evie cooking in the kitchen talking to someone. I had thought Angel went over to Sofie's after dinner, but I guess he stayed the night or maybe he came back over early for breakfast and to check on me. I walked into the kitchen smiling, but stopped in my tracks when I saw that it was Bobby leaning against the counter talking to Miss Evie. "Damnit." I said under my breath.

"Language Willow." Miss Evie reprimanded, pointing her spatula at me.

"Sorry Miss Evie." After I apologized, I turned my attention to Bobby. "What are you doing here Bobby? I didn't think you were even going to make it back for Christmas."

"Ma called and told me you broke your wrist." He walked over to me and ruffled my hair. "I wanted to make sure you were ok and see if someone needed to have a talk with your old man."

I pushed his hand away. "No one needs to have a talk with my dad Bobby. Please don't start anything." The pleading tone obvious in my voice as I spoke.

"Ok, but Wills, you've got to look out for yourself some of the time. Okay?" He looked at me seriously for a moment before smiling. "Now are you gonna let me sign that cast of yours?" He grabbed for my wrist.

"No, I don't want to make a big deal out of it." I said, pulling my arm just out of his reach. "Will breakfast be ready soon Miss Evie?" I asked as the smell of eggs floated towards me.

"Just a few more minutes sweetie. Why don't you go wash yourself up and by the time you are done the food will be ready." She said with a smile.

I headed back up the stairs and went into the bathroom. I washed my face and rubbed it dry with a towel. Then came the regular morning struggle of trying to get a brush through my thick auburn hair. After I had my hair under control, I brushed my teeth, put on some mascara, and turned to go back to my room to change out of my pajamas.

As I turned away from the mirror, I ran face first into Jack's chest and almost fell backwards. He grabbed my shoulders to steady me, muttering apologies as I blushed. "Sorry Wills, I didn't realize you were in here. You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I muttered as my face burned with embarrassment.

We awkwardly moved around each other for a moment, trying to get past each other. Once we had finally switched places, with me in the hall and Jack in the bathroom we looked at each other, laughing just a little uncomfortably. "Umm, well I'll see you downstairs I guess." I said with an awkward wave as I backed away.

Downstairs, at the table, we finished saying grace and sat in our seats to eat breakfast. After I took a couple bites of my eggs, I cleared my throat and looked up at Miss Evie. "So, um, Jack and I were wondering if he could teach me how to ice skate today if I was really careful. I promise I will be super careful. Pretty please Miss Evie?" I gave her my best dimple accompanied smile and hoped for the best.

Her eyes flicked from my face, to my cast, to Jack. "Oh I don't know." She mused quietly. "Only if you are very careful. If that wrist starts to hurt you at all you stop immediately. Jackie, you look out for her ok?"

"Of course I will Ma." Jack mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"You guys are going to the rink and you didn't invite me. That hurts me." Bobby put his hand over his heart and gave us a sad look.

"We didn't know you would be here Bobby." I said shaking my head. "I guess you can come if you want to though."

"Well don't sound too excited about it." He shot back. "You will embarrass yourself."

I laughed as I looked at my plate and then back up at Bobby, "Bobby, will you please come to the rink with us? It just wouldn't be as much fun without you there. Isn't that right Jack?"

"Oh yeah." Jack nodded in agreement. "We just wouldn't know what to do without the Michigan Mauler there."

"Of course you wouldn't you fairy." Bobby said putting his fork down and taking his plate into the kitchen to put into the sink. "Well, hurry up Cracker Jack, you too small fry. Let's get going. I've got things to teach you."

We piled out of Bobby's monster of a car when he pulled into a spot at the rink. "We should have brought our sticks Jackie." Bobby huffed as we walked up to the gate.

"I told you man, there is no point in bringing our sticks when we don't have enough people to play. And how are we supposed to teach Wills to skate if you are too busy beating the shit out of other people?" Jack asked laughing a little

"Hey, it's not like I don't know what I'm doing." Which was a complete lie. I had been skating once when I was probably four. Mom took me, but I hadn't been since. "I can stand up on the ice. I just can't… well… I just can't move once I get standing." I said hanging my head in embarrassment.

Bobby laughed at me and put his arm around my shoulders. "Don't worry Wills, when we are through with you, you will be skating circles around everyone out there."

We sat down on a bench just outside of the door that led onto the ice. Bobby had his skates on and was out on the ice in a matter of seconds, but I was struggling a bit with the laces on my skates. I made an exasperated sound and leaned back on the bench. "Damn cast, damn laces, stupid wrist. Ugggghhhh!"

Jack laughed as he finished lacing up his skates. "Here, let me help you." He said as he bent down in front of me and started tying the laces together.

"I feel so useless. This cast gets in the way of everything." The frustration was obvious in my voice.

"You'll get used to it. After about a week you won't even notice it's there except for when your arm itches."

"You have a lot of experience with casts?" Almost immediately regretting my question because of the sad look that crossed Jack's face.

He focused on tucking the laces into the boots and cleared his throat. "Yeah, I have some experience with them." He stood up and stuck his hand out to me. "Come on, let's get you out on that ice."

I grabbed his hand and stood up. It was surprisingly easy to hobble over to the gate that led onto the ice, but as soon as the blades of my skates hit the ice I almost lost it. I had never felt so off balance in my entire life, like I was going to fall at any moment. I clutched at Jack's arms, holding onto them like my life depended on it. "Don't you dare let go of me, you hear? If I bust my ass I blame you."

Jack chuckled as Bobby literally skated in circles around us. "Come on twinkle toes, let's get this show on the road." He shouted as he made another lap around us, gliding across the ice effortlessly as I watched him with jealousy.

Jack tightened his grip on my hand and gave me one of those rare, but amazing, Jack smiles. "Come on, we'll take it slow."

_Honey, we can take it any speed you want to._ I thought to myself as I blushed and held onto his hand like I would never let go.

Bobby took over the teaching after a little while, so Jack could have a chance to skate without having me attached to him like a leech. "Now you want to hit them from the side. Knock 'em off balance so they go flying and you can sweep your stick in there and steal the puck." He was trying to teach me some of the moves that had earned him the name The Michigan Mauler, but it was kind of pointless since it had been literally five minutes since I had learned how to move around on the ice without having to be pulled by someone else.

I smiled and nodded, trying to act interested, while what I was really interested in was watching Jack glide across the ice. God he was beautiful. I know that sounds stupid, but it's true. And when I say he was beautiful, I don't mean that he was just good looking, which he was, he was great looking, but what I really mean is that there was just something about him that drew me to him. I was like a moth to a flame, like a flower that turns to follow the sun. He was just so strong, I didn't even know what all he had been through, but I knew he had to be crazy strong just to get through it.

Because I was watching Jack so intently, I didn't see the big guy who took me out. He hadn't been able to stop and I was in his way, so down I went, curling my body around my injured wrist, determined to not hurt it any worse than I already had.

After I hit the ice, wincing, I sat up slowly. Just in time to see the vein in Bobby's forehead pop out like it did when he was angry. _Shit it about to get real,_ I thought. Sure, I knew it was an accident, but my wrist was hurting again and someone had to take the blame for that. So I blame the guy who knocked me down.

Bobby and the guy were yelling at each other, Bobby's face turning an unnatural shade of red as he got closer and closer to the other guy. Jack came speeding over and bent down next to me, worry plain on his face. "You ok Wills?"

I bit my lip and nodded. "Yeah I'm fine, my wrist just isn't too happy with me right now." Right as I said that, Bobby punched the guy who knocked me down on the jaw, knocking him flat on his back. Bobby was going after the guy again when Jack stepped, or skated, in.

He grabbed the guy by the collar of his jacket and dragged him over to where I was sitting on the ice, cradling my wrist against my chest. He knelt down in front of me and looked the guy in the eye. "Apologize to her. Now." He said with an intensity in his voice that I had never heard before.

The poor guy looked at the ice in front of him and mumbled a half-hearted apology.

Jack shook him by the collar of his jacket and got in his face again. "Apologize to her like you mean it you piece of shit." He said, that same intensity becoming more obvious in his voice. Jackie, who didn't really like confrontation, was pissed.

This time, the guy looked me in the eye. "I'm sorry ma'am. I really am. Now can you tell your boyfriend to let me go?"

"He isn't my boyfriend." I said as Jack and I both blushed, avoiding each other's eyes. Jack let go of the guys jacket and pushed him away as I felt Bobby's arms slip under mine to lift me up.

"You ok small fry?" He asked as he brushed ice shavings off of my jacket.

"Yeah I'm fine Bobby. That guy is in worse shape than I am" I laughed as the led me off of the ice. "I think that was enough excitement for today though. I feel like I am about to fall asleep right here." I plopped down on the bench, short legs stretched out in front of me as the guys took off their skates and Jack came over to help me with mine. He took off my skates for me and helped me into my shoes in complete silence and without looking me in the eye once.

As we were walking back to Bobby's car I matched my pace to Jack's and pushed him lightly, laughing. "That dumbass thought you were my boyfriend." I was trying to make a joke out of the whole thing because I could tell, much to my dismay, that the idea of being called my boyfriend was not appealing to Jack at all.

He chuckled quietly as he got into the backseat with me. "Yeah, that's crazy isn't it?"

"Yeah, crazy." I whispered sadly as I leaned my head against his shoulder, closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

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**I hope you guys liked it! It will probably be like three days or so until the next update because I have a research paper to write, a speech to give, and an apartment to move out of this week.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Holy bejesus you guys! I just finished writing what I think is going to be the saddest chapter and the most awesome chapter! It is going to pop up in a few more chapters, but I had to go ahead and write it so it would stop distracting me. I hope you like this chapter. It's kind of just fluff with some happy and rainbows thrown in, and a side of a little sadness. Enjoy!**

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I couldn't believe it was Christmas Eve already. Over the past couple of weeks I had been spending more and more time over at the Mercer house. Miss Evie was teaching me too cook and I would hang out with Jack in his room listening to him write songs, giving him ideas for lyrics, and telling him about what I wanted to do with my life. At first he laughed at me when I said I wanted to go to Alaska and study wolves, that or work in a zoo setting up a conservation breeding program, but after I told him my dream wasn't any more crazy than his dream to be a rock star he stopped making fun of me as much. We had also been spending a lot of time at the rink and I was starting to get good if I do say so myself.

My dad had disappeared on another binge the day before, so Miss Evie had insisted that I stay with them for Christmas. "Sweetie, no one should be alone on Christmas. You are staying with us and that is the end of it."

I didn't put much of a fight up anyways; I loved staying with the Mercers. For the first time since Derek died I was starting to feel like part of a family again. I just smiled, nodded my head, and packed a bag to bring over.

I was in the kitchen cooking with Miss Evie and Jack, listening to Michael Buble's newest Christmas album and singing loudly and off key. Jack laughed and shook his head at me as I danced around the kitchen, waving my still casted wrist around. He seemed like he had started smiling a lot more recently; I liked to think I had a part in making that happen.

I swayed my hips, still singing like a tone-deaf angel, as I took a casserole out of the oven and Bobby walked through the door. "What is that noise?" he asked. "Ma it sounds like something is dying."

I blushed and pouted as Miss Evie came to my defense. "Willow, your singing isn't that bad sweetie. Welcome home Bobby." She smiled, wiping her hands off on her apron as she walked over to hug her eldest son.

"It's good to be home Ma." He said, wrapping his arms around the little lady. He let go of her and walked up to Jack, punching him lightly on the shoulder. "How's it goin' Cracker Jack?"

"Cut it out man." Jack said, smiling and pushing Bobby away from him and towards me.

"Wills, just cause the fairy over there wants to be a rock star doesn't mean you have to sing." He ruffled my hair and pulled me in for a hug as I continued to pout. I pushed him away from me after a second and he reached for my casted wrist. "You gonna let me sign that cast of yours yet? People are going to think you don't have any friends if you start school with an unsigned cast."

"And you think I want people to know I'm friends with the Michigan Mauler? No one will talk to me either way Bobby." I shot back laughing as he acted like I had hurt him.

"That hurts me Wills, it really does."

"Ok, now if you guys aren't going to help me cook go to the living room and watch tv or something." Miss Evie asked sweetly. "You are crowding my kitchen."

At that Bobby turned and left, not wanting to get talked into cooking something, and I went back to stand next to Jack who was putting the ingredients for another casserole in a dish. "Jackie, is my singing really that bad?" I asked quietly.

He looked at me and screwed up his face a little, obviously not wanting to hurt my feelings, but not able to think of a believable lie. "Umm… well… you aren't _that_ bad."

I nudged him with my shoulder, "You, my friend, are a horrible liar." I smiled up at him as he laughed.

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I was sitting on the bed in what I now knew as _my_ room. Dinner really hadn't been anything too fancy. It was just Jack, Miss Evie, Bobby, and me. Angel was off with the marines; he had called right after dinner and talked to all of us. Jerry was spending Christmas Eve with Camille and her family; they were supposed to be coming over in the morning for Christmas brunch and presents and apparently they had something important to tell us. I was picking at my cast absentmindedly when Jack knocked softly on the door and came in.

He eyed me as he sat on the foot of my bed. "You aren't letting what Bobby said about not having your cast signed get to you are you? He is just being an ass."

I laughed and shook my head. "No, I was just thinking about how ready I am to get this thing off. It itches all the time and I hate having to stick my hand outside of the curtain when I shower."

"Yeah, that's probably one of the worst parts. When Ma first brought me home my arm was in a cast. I was probably about nine and I hated having to get my arm wrapped up just to shower. I think I went a week without showering before Bobby told me that he was going to bathe me himself if I didn't clean up."

We both laughed at that and Jack relaxed a little, leaning his back against the wall. As he leaned back I sat forward, crossing my legs and leaning towards him. I cleared my throat and my face flushed as I got nervous about what I was going to ask him. "Jack?"

He looked at me, his blue eyes meeting mine. "Yeah Wills?"

"Do you think you'll ever tell me what happened to you before Miss Evie got you?" A look of panic crossed his face like it did every time he thought about _before_ and my face got even hotter, embarrassed that I had thought bringing up was a good idea. I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly and continued. "I mean, I get it if you don't want to tell me about it. I completely understand. I shouldn't have even brought it up. I'm sorry." I was rambling now; I do that when I get nervous. "I just want you to know you can trust me Jack. You really can. I would never do anything to hurt you." I looked him in the eye, hoping that he could understand how much I really meant that.

He looked around the room for a second, gathering his thoughts I guess. "It's not that I don't want to tell _you_ Wills. It's just that I don't like talking about it. Whenever I talk about it, it all comes back." He looked at his hands and then at me. "I do trust you Wills. I know I do because if I could talk about it, I would tell you, but…" he cleared his throat, "but it's just hard to talk about."

I felt like someone was squeezing my heart as I looked at his face and saw the fear and sadness that was written on it. I slowly scooted closer to him, turning to face the same way he was, and I leaned against him. I wanted to kill whoever had put him through whatever he had been through. "I'm sorry Jackie." I whispered.

Jack shook his head. "Nah, don't be sorry Wills." He said as he put an arm around me and gave me a squeeze.

"I'm glad your mom said I had to stay with you guys while my dad is gone. I don't know what I would have done if I'd had to be alone. This is the first Christmas that I'm celebrating since Derek died." I cleared my throat, trying to get the lump that had formed to go away. "It's so weird without him here. I don't even know if I should celebrate. Am I forgetting about him if I celebrate?" I looked up at him, tears on the verge of spilling over.

He brushed a piece of hair out of my face as he looked down at me. "No, you aren't forgetting. You'll think about him all day. About how much fun he would have had, about how you miss him. But I'm sure he wouldn't want you to be sad Wills. No kid would want his sister to be sad on Christmas."

I buried my head in his shoulder as tears escaped my eyes. As soon I regained some composure, I looked up at him. "Thanks Jackie." I smiled a teary smile and leaned my head against his shoulder with a sigh. "I don't know what I would do without you." I said softly as my eyes slowly closed.

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I must have fallen asleep because the next time I opened my eyes the room was dark. Jack was still sitting on my bed, his arm around me, and he was asleep too. His face was relaxed and he snored quietly. He looked so peaceful and I didn't want to wake him up, but I knew if he slept like that all night that his back and shoulders would be killing him in the morning.

"Jack." I whispered, shaking his arm lightly. "Jackie wake up."

He jerked a little as he woke up, eyes wide and fearful. Then when he saw it was me he relaxed, "You scared me Wills." He said, sleepily rubbing a hand across his eyes.

"Sorry, I just didn't want you sleeping like that all night cause your back will be killing you in the morning if you do."

"Well thanks Wills." Jack said. His eyes were practically closed as he stretched out on my bed, turning over to lay on his stomach with is face on my pillow. "Can I just stay here? Can't move. Too tired." His voice was muffled by the pillow.

I smiled as I laid down next to him. "Of course you can Jackie."

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I woke up Christmas morning just as Jack was opening his eyes. "Merry Christmas Jack." I said blushing.

"Merry Christmas Wills." He rubbed his hand across his face, blinking his eyes sleepily.

I sat up slowly, stretching my arms above my head and letting loose a loud yawn. I heard Jack laugh as he looked at me and stood up. "What?" I asked, putting my hands to my face thinking there was something there. Jack shook his head not wanting to answer. "What Jack?" I put my hands to my hair and realized that that's what Jack was laughing at. "Oh. My. God." My hair was a mess, I could just feel that it was sticking up everywhere.

Jack turned around, hunched over laughing. "I'm sorry." He said between laughs. "It really isn't that bad. I swear."

I pointed my finger at the door. "Get. Out." I said.

Jack turned and walked towards the door. When he opened it, Bobby was standing there with his hand raised like he was getting ready to knock. He looked confused for a second when he saw Jack in his pajamas and me in my bed with my rat's nest head of hair, but he covered quickly, putting his best poker face on. "Ma says breakfast is ready so come downstairs." He turned to leave, but at the last minute he called over his shoulder, "Nice hair Wills, it really works for you!"

My face turned a deep shade of red and Jack left the room, laughing loudly. "Ugghhh you guys are the worst." I yelled exasperatedly as I flung myself back on the bed.

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I got ready; brushing my teeth, dabbing on some mascara, and pulling on a bulky sweater with big, multicolored polar bears on it. After I was flawless as usual I bounded down the stairs and rushed into the dining room. Camille and Jerry must have gotten there while I was getting ready because they were sitting at the table along with Jack, Miss Evie, and Bobby. Once I got to my seat, everyone stood and we joined hands for grace.

We ate in relative silence. Everyone seemed to be too tired to put any effort into anything but eating, except for Jerry and Camille. They were smiling a lot and looking at each other like they had a secret that only the two of them knew about.

After everyone finished eating we all cleaned up our plates and moved into the living room to exchange presents. Miss Evie handed out the presents from her first. She had knitted a little something for everyone and my present from her was a hat and scarf that matched the color of my eyes exactly. Then I got my present from the guys. They had all gotten me a sweater with reindeer and snowflakes on it. I smiled and laughed as I opened that present, those boys knew me too well. I thought that was it for presents for me, but then Jack placed another one in my hands. On the tag it said it was just from him. I looked up at him questioningly as I pulled back the wrapping paper. When I looked down at the present in my hands I saw that it was the book that I told him I wanted a few weeks ago. I couldn't believe he remembered that. "Thanks Jackie." I said quietly. "Thanks for the presents all of you. I love them." Tears welled up in my eyes because it had been so long since I had felt like a part of a family. I brushed the back of my hand across my eyes and smiled up at everyone. "Now I can give all of you your presents, right?"

Miss Evie nodded and I started with her present. I had gotten her and Bobby each a pair of those big, fuzzy dice for their cars. Then I gave Jerry his present, a striped hat. Finally I gave Jack his presents, a striped scarf and a guitar pick that had his name carved into it.

Everyone said their thank yous for their gifts and the Jerry stood up. He smiled down at Camille, who seemed to be glowing, and then looked at all of us. "Guys, Camille and I have an announcement to make." He reached down and grabbed her hand, pulling her up to stand next to him. They smiled that "oh look at us we are so in love smile" at each other before Jerry spoke again. "We're pregnant!"

Miss Evie jumped up, clapping her hands, as Bobby hugged his brother, "Congrats man, you aren't even showing yet." He said as he rubbed Jerry's stomach.

"Man knock it off." Jerry said smiling as Bobby moved on to hug Camille and Jack moved in to give Jerry a hug.

Then Miss Evie came up to Jerry and Camille, a small bag with a yellow ribbon tied on it in her hands. Camille opened it to reveal a tiny pair of knitted baby socks. They both looked at her in surprise and she laughed. "You guys thought you could keep something like that from me? I knew weeks ago. Jerry you should know better than to keep secrets from your mother."

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**I hope you enjoyed it! Review at will and the next chapter will be up by the end of the week!**


	6. Chapter 5

**Sorry this took so long guys! Moving out was a lot harder than I thought it would be and I was having some issues with writer's block. Just so you guys know, I'm going to start covering a lot of time really quickly. Mainly because I want to get to the main Four Brothers story. I have big plans for it. Also you might hate me a little because of the character I am about bring in, but don't worry you will love me again eventually I hope. Now, you guys have seen happy Willow, you have seen sad Willow, well get ready to see a glimmer of badass Willow.**

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It was the morning of my first day of school and I was sitting downstairs staring at the keys on the table in front of me. "It's not like he needs the car," I said to myself, "I would just be taking away his opportunity to drive drunk during the day." I was struggling to decide whether or not to take the keys to the car. It would be nice to drive to school and I could eliminate the chance of my dad taking off in the car during the day. He had already given me a black eye earlier in the week so it wasn't like things could get too much worse if I did take it. I seethed as I thought about my black eye, it had taken me an hour and about a pound of concealer to bring my face close to normal, but I could still see a faint tint of a bruise around my right eye. That little burst of anger was all I needed to make myself grab the keys, pick up my bag, and walk out the door.

I got in the car and pulled out of the driveway, heading down the road towards the Mercer house. Jack was locking up the door as I pulled up and honked the horn. He jumped a little at the sound, but when he saw it was me behind the wheel he smiled and bounded down the stairs. "Nice wheels Wills." He said as he opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.

"Why thank you." I said smiling. "I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. We can get to school fast and Dad can't take off in the car while I'm not there to watch him."

"Look at you." Jack said laughing, "You are already too smart for school."

"Yeah, I know. I'm only going so you can have a friend." I said, punching him lightly on the arm.

Jack pretended to look hurt. "Ouch, that cuts deep Wills."

The school was only a few minutes away, so we got there pretty fast. I pulled into the parking lot and parked the car in a spot close to the front of the lot where there weren't a lot of cars. I got out of the car and grabbed my bag out of the back before jogging to catch up with Jack.

"So are you going to show me where I need to go?" I asked Jack as we walked up the sidewalk towards the front doors together.

He slung his arm around my shoulder "Of course. Let me be your guide. Right ahead, if you look very closely, you can see the doors to hell. Now they may look like normal doors to a school, but don't let them fool you. Your life as you know it will soon be over."

As we walked through those doors to hell I was laughing up at Jack, but I stopped laughing as soon as I looked at the people in the hall around us. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but I swear everyone was staring at us. I guess being new and walking into school with the arm of a Mercer boy around you was socially unacceptable. Actually, it probably was socially unacceptable the more I think about it.

As we walked towards a couple of girls who were whispering to each other I caught a piece of their conversation. The girl with the fake blonde hair was saying to the girl with the bad spray on tan, "I hear her dad's a drunk and that he runs out all the time. He hits her too, and then he disappears for days."

The girl with the bad tan didn't believe this. "That's crazy. I really doubt her dad hits her, maybe you are right about the drinking, but there is no way her dad hits her."

"Oh, and you think that she just gave herself that black eye she is trying to hide under a bad makeup job?"

I saw the girl with the bad tan look at me a little closer and I felt my face flush. I thought I had done a damn good job of covering up the black eye. Once we were closer I stopped in front of them. "Just so you guys know, if you are going to talk about me, you should do it where I can't hear about it."

The girl with the bad dye job, obviously the alpha bitch, pursed her lips as she gave me the up and down. "What are you going to do about it? Smother me with your tacky oversized sweater?"

I could feel myself puffing up with anger as Jack grabbed my arm. "Come on Wills, let's go. You've got to go get your schedule."

I shook my head and turned to walk with him, but I stopped when I heard alpha bitch speak again. "Yeah, run along little freak." She called after me before saying to her friend, "I kinda feel bad for her. I mean, she is a poorly dressed weirdo, who is a punching bag for her drunk dad, and her only friend is the gay Mercer boy."

"I didn't think he was really gay!" the badly tanned one whispered as I turned around to walk back towards them, seething.

"His own brother calls him a fairy. I heard it with my own ears." She said right before she noticed me standing in front of them again. "Did you come back to ask for some fashion advice, because I think you are too far gone for us to help you."

I gritted my teeth and took in a deep breath through my nose before I spoke. "Don't talk about my dad, don't talk about me, and don't talk about Jack. You got that?"

"Or you'll do what?" She had a smirk on her face that wouldn't be there much longer.

"Or I will find you after school and break your fingers. One by one. And after I break each finger, you will apologize for being such a stuck up bitch." I growled as I stared her down.

Her eyes were as big as dinner plates as I turned on my heel and stalked back towards Jack. "You were right. Those were the doors to hell." I said angrily as I fell into step next to him.

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After lunch, which I thankfully had with Jack, I headed to what would be one of my favorite classes of the semester, my biology lab. I walked through the door right before the bell rang and immediately headed towards the last empty lab bench left. I was hoping that I was going to get to be by myself after what had happened that morning; I wasn't too pleased with the selection of people this fine institution had to offer.

My hopes were crushed as a stocky guy with dark hair and biceps to die for walked into the room. He smiled charmingly at the teacher, apologizing for his tardiness, and then headed straight for the empty seat next to me. "Hey, I'm Chance." He said as he sat down next to me.

I realized my mouth was hanging open and quickly closed it before the fine specimen of a human next to me noticed too. "I'm Willow." I managed to choke out as I looked away quickly so I could attempt to hide the blush that was spreading across my face.

"Wait," he said as I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, "you're the girl who threatened to break Trish McIntyre's fingers after school aren't you?"

I put my face in my hands and began to think about how famous I was about to be for becoming the first person to actually die from embarrassment. "Fuck." I muttered.

"That was pretty damn awesome." He said with a hint of admiration in his voice.

I looked at him slowly; pretty sure my mouth was hanging open again. "What?"

"I said that was pretty damn awesome. Trish is my stepsister and the biggest bitch to walk this planet." He explained. "No one has had the balls to stick up to her since she moved here from Florida when her mom married my dad."

I relaxed a little when I heard his opinion of his stepsister. "It's too bad she is so evil, us southern girls have to stick together." I shook my head and tried to act disappointed that I would never be friends with Trish.

"Ah, so you're pretty, a badass, _and_ funny." He said laughing. "I think I might enjoy lab this semester."

Blushing, I looked away quickly. I tried to remain cool, calm, and collected, but it was really hard because I was screaming on the inside.

Lab carried on like any normal class would. The teacher passed out the syllabus, went over the rules, and we had to watch some stupid video on lab safety. Once the bell rang for class change, I stood up quickly gathering my books in my arms. I was shooting for a quick exit, but of course one of my books had to be a rebel and it fell from my arms. I bent to pick it up, but before I even had a chance to get to it, Chance had the book in his hand and was smiling. "Drop something?"

"Thanks." I said as I took the book from his hand, smiling back at him.

"See you tomorrow Willow." He said with a wink before he walked away.

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My last class of the day was my World Lit class. It was also the only class that I had with Jack. I spotted him as soon as I walked into the room and I rushed over to the empty chair next to him. "Hey Wills." He whispered as I sat down next to him.

"Hey Jackie." I sighed as I leaned back in the chair.

"So how was your first day?" He asked as the teacher stood up in front of the board.

"Well…"

"Mr. Mercer, Miss Carter, am I interrupting you? I didn't realize that my class was going to cut into your social hour." The teacher stared us down as I blushed.

Jack opened his mouth to let loose what was sure to be a smart ass comment and I clapped a hand over his mouth before he could say something to get us into more trouble. "Sorry, Ms. Sirmens. We didn't mean to interrupt you." I apologized, smiling sweetly at the teacher.

The rest of the class passed pretty quickly and consisted mainly of Jack rolling his eyes and pretending to fall asleep while the teacher lectured and me elbowing him in the ribs, trying to keep him in line. Once the bell rang, releasing us from the grip of World Lit, Jack and I grabbed our things and headed for the parking lot. We got to the car pretty fast, only stopping once for me to glare at Trish McIntyre as she backed into the lockers in her effort to stay out of my way.

Once we were in the car, I pulled out and almost immediately had to slam on the brakes to keep myself from running over Chance. He had purposely stepped in front of the car and now had both of his hands on the hood as he smiled at me. I leaned on the horn and eased off of the brake, laughing as he backed away hands raised in surrender. He waved goodbye as I drove past him, still laughing.

"What was _that _about?" Jack asked, looking thoroughly confused.

"Oh, that was nothing. That's just Chance, he's my lab partner. Apparently his step-sister is the girl whose fingers I threatened to break this morning."

"I know who he is Wills, what I meant was why was he throwing himself in front of your car. Are you guys friends or something?"

It was kind of weird to me, how put off Jack seemed by the possibility that I might be friends with Chance. "Maybe, I guess. Why? You jealous Jackie?" I asked teasingly, trying to get some information out of him. Maybe he was jealous that I was friends with a cute guy like Chance because he liked me. Yeah right, that was definitely wishful thinking on my part.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Why would I be jealous of that guy?"

"Oh, well it's good that you aren't jealous," I said, watching him take a sip from his water bottle out of the corner of my eye, "cause he told me in class that he thought I was pretty. So maybe he likes me."

At that Jack spewed water everywhere and started coughing. I laughed at him as he tried to catch his breath. Once he stopped coughing he glared at me until I stopped laughing. "Well if that's the kind of guy you like then it will be just perfect for you if he does."

"I'm only joking Jack." I said, nudging him on the arm as I kept my eyes on the road, trying to avoid hitting the mailbox as I pulled up in front of his house. "Why would he like _me_ anyways?" I asked as he started to get out of the car.

The only way I can describe the look he gave me after that was that it was a look of disbelief. He shook his head as he turned around and walked up the sidewalk to his front door, waving to me over his shoulder.

"What was _that_ all about?" I muttered to myself after he had walked through the door.

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**Ok I hope you guys liked it! Review at will and there will be a new chapter up tomorrow probably.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Ok so this was originally a part of the chapter before, but it got a little out of hand and ended up being like 6,000 words so I split it up into two. This chapter was kind of hard to write towards the end, but I hope I did an ok job and I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.**

A month into the school year and I was in quite an awkward predicament. I was sitting in Miss Evie's dining room with Jack and Chance studying. I made Jack study with me every night because he wouldn't do it otherwise. Chance was there because we had a lab report to work on and I didn't want him at my house because I never knew what kind of state my dad might be in.

Jack had been glaring at Chance from across the table for almost the entire time he had been there. I kept kicking his leg under the table, trying to get him to be civil, but he wouldn't stop glaring and he hadn't said a single word to Chance since he walked in through the door.

I couldn't understand why Jack hated Chance so much. Jack never made a move to show that he had any interest in me so I couldn't understand why he got so mad at Chance for liking me.

"So, are you going out to the party over at Sweets' place tonight Willow?" Chance asked, closing his notebook. I caught Jack rolling his eyes out of the corner of my eye. Victor Sweets had graduated a few years before, but he was always throwing parties for his friends and the high schoolers always ended up going there. Sweets wasn't a good guy though. He had a reputation for selling drugs and doing his uncle's dirty work.

"Oh I don't know." I looked up at him quickly and then glanced down at the notes in front of me. "There is still a lot to do for this lab report and I want to make sure we finish it. And I have… stuff to do at home tonight. I can't. I'm sorry Chance." I tried to look sorry as I looked at him. In all honesty, I didn't want to go to the party. I didn't really like the majority of the people there. I felt bad for passing up an opportunity to hang out with Chance, but I just didn't want to go to that party.

Chance and I had actually been hanging out a lot recently. He kept trying to get me to go out, but I guess I just wasn't much of a partier so I always found a reason not to go.

Chance shook his head, "Well if you change your mind you can always text me and I'll come pick you up."

"Yeah, I'll do that Chance." I said smiling at him.

"I'm gonna head out now. You got everything under control with the rest of the lab stuff?" Chance asked, stuffing his notes into his book bag.

I nodded and stood up to walk him out. I saw Jack mouth the words "Thank God" while Chance's back was turned and I slapped him across the back of the head, glaring at him over my shoulder as I walked to the door with Chance.

As we stepped out into the chilly air I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stay warm. Chance and I were awkwardly looking at each other. He seemed like he had something he wanted to say, but he couldn't quite get it out. As he shifted from one foot to the other he finally spoke. "Do you want a ride home?"

"No," I said, shaking my head, "I think I'm gonna hang out over here and study with Jack a little longer and his mom said I could have dinner with them."

"Are you and Jack like… a thing?" Chance asked, looking really uncomfortable.

I laughed and blushed, "No, Jack is my best friend. I'm pretty close with his family. There isn't anything going on between me and Jack though." I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice. I mean, it wasn't like Jack was going to make a move and I liked Chance a lot and he seemed like he liked me too.

He let out the air he had been holding in. "Oh good. Well, I was going to ask you on the way to the party tonight, but since I can't talk you into going I'll just ask you now." He shifted he weight from one foot to the other, tapping his fingers on his leg. Chance was nervous. Cocky, confident, gorgeous Chance was nervous. "Willow, will you go out with me?"

I sucked in air quickly, _Holy shit_, I thought. I couldn't believe Chance was actually asking me out. _What about Jack? _I thought_, _before I could stop it from popping up in my head. Then I remembered that Jack didn't like me like Chance did. So I pushed my feelings for Jack to the side. "Yeah… Yeah I will." I said, barely able to control my smile as I nodded and he put his arms around me.

He was smiling as he pulled back to get a better look at me. He brushed my bangs back away from my face and before I knew it, his lips were on mine. The kiss was short because neither one of us could stop smiling. "You sure you don't want to go to that party with me tonight?" he asked as he looked down at me, arms still around my waist, holding me to him.

"Yeah, I've got a lot of work to do for school and Victor's parties aren't really my thing."

"Ok." He sighed before he placed another kiss on my lips. "I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Yes sir you will." I said, standing on my toes so I could place a kiss on his cheek before he left.

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Jack wasn't too happy about Chance and me dating at first. He said that he was upset because Chance wasn't a good guy and that I deserved better, but Chance was great and he had never given me a reason not to trust him.

By the time prom came around Chance and I were still in the gross newly-wed stage of our relationship. We held hands, we hugged a lot, we were always smiling, and we were always pissing Jack off. Chance had asked me to prom a few weeks before in the only way Chance knew how, by being a total child about it. He wrote "Prom?" on his ass with sharpie and mooned me in the school parking lot. I had kind of been expecting something nice and sweet, but I honestly wasn't surprised that Chance asked me like that so I said yes.

Walking down the stairs in a long dress was a lot harder than girls in the movies made it look. They all glided effortlessly down the stairs, while I was tottering in my heels like a newborn giraffe trying to walk for the first time. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, all that struggling was worth it to see the look on Chance's face, and the look on Jack's face.

My dress was light pink with a low-cut back and had sequins on the bodice. Miss Evie had helped me put my hair up and she had let a few curled strands hang down around my face. I thought I looked pretty good, but the looks on the guys' faces confirmed that for me. I reached the bottom of the stairs and smiled at them, blushing. I twirled in a circle as Chance walked up to me, "You look beautiful." He said as he grabbed my hands and placed a kiss on my lips. I could almost taste the beer on his lips and it took all of my self-control to maintain my composure.

"Thanks." I said smiling at him.

"Well let's go get Amanda. " Chance said turning quickly and heading out the door. Amanda was Jack's date. She was the girl with the fake tan who had been talking to Trish that first day I went to school. She was actually really nice and we had kind of become friends since Chance and I had started dating. Jack wanted Jack to go to prom with all of us and Amanda was still looking for a date so I got him to ask her.

As I headed out the door after Chance I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see Jack looking at me. "He's right about something for once. You look great."

My face got hot as I smiled at him. "Thanks Jackie." I headed out the door after Chance and got into the backseat of the limo that Chance had gotten for all of us.

After we picked up Amanda we pulled up to the dance and Chance and I walked up to the doors holding hands while Jack and Amanda walked awkwardly behind us. Inside, the room was full of people dancing and grinding on each other. The music was loud as Chance pulled me out on the dance floor and spun me around, pulling me to him and putting his hands on my hips as we moved back and forth, grinding to the music. Chance whispered something in my ear, but I couldn't hear what he said because the music was so loud. He was having issues standing up straight and I rolled my eyes as he stumbled slightly. He had taken advantage of the mini bar in the limo and was now pretty plastered.

As we danced, I looked around the room and saw Jack and Amanda sitting at a table looking bored. Chance mumbled something in my ear and pressed a sloppy kiss on my cheek before he stumbled off towards the bathroom. I looked back over my shoulder to where Jack and Amanda had been sitting only to see some other guy hitting on Amanda and Jack heading towards me. "Wanna dance?" He asked with a smile.

"Sure Jackie." As I smiled back at him the song changed to something slow. I put my arms up around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist. He pulled me close and we swayed to the music as Jack hummed along to the song in my ear.

Jack cleared his throat suddenly, like he had something to say, and I looked up at him. "Hey Wills?" He was looking around nervously, like he didn't know what to say.

"Yeah Jack?"

Before he had a chance to say anything else, Chance popped up next to us and grabbed my arm. "Come on Willow!" He said as he pulled me to the side doors of the gym. I looked over my shoulder to see Jack standing where I left him, looking defeated.

When we got to the little alley next to the dumpsters Chance stopped pulling me. "What's going…" I started to ask, but my question was cut off by Chance's lips covering mine. He pushed me against the wall as he deepened the kiss.

He pulled back suddenly and looked at me, breathing heavily. "You are so gorgeous." And before I had a chance to respond he was kissing me again. His body was pressed up against mine, pinning me between him and the wall, and I could feel him hard against my leg. He began kissing down my neck and back up to just under my ear and I gasped. He cut me off again, his mouth covering mine as our tongues twined together.

He pushed himself against me harder, grunting just a little, and I turned my head to the side. "Chance slow down." I said panting as he kissed my neck and pushed against me again. I winced as the bricks behind me scraped my back. I put my hands on his chest and tried to push him back. "Chance, stop for a second." I said with a little more force.

He looked at me with something like anger in his eyes. "Don't be a tease Willow." He said roughly as he wrapped his hands around my wrists and pinned them against the wall.

"Chance, you are drunk. Stop it." I struggled and he held onto my wrists tighter. I felt the bones in my newly healed wrist grind together painfully and tears sprung to my eyes. "Chance you're hurting me." I protested.

He was determined to get what he wanted though and was now holding onto both of my wrists with one big hand as he tried to hike up my long skirt with the other. I kicked out at him, yelling at him to stop, hoping that someone would hear me.

He had gotten my skirt up past my knee when the door burst open, revealing Jack. When he saw what Chance was trying to do, he ran for him, ducking his head low and wrapping his arms around Chance as he knocked him to the ground. They struggled for a minute as I sank to the ground crying, covering myself with my skirt.

Jack ended up on top of Chance and gave him a solid punch to the jaw before he turned his attention to me. "Are you ok Wills?" I nodded as he got up off of Chance and headed over towards me, but not before he gave Chance a solid kick to the ribs.

Jack helped me get up and wrapped his arms around me, rubbing my back as I cried on his shoulder. "It's ok now Wills. I've got you." He murmured. He kept an arm around me as we turned to walk away. Chance must have realized what he had just tried to do, because I could hear him from behind us calling after me. Apologizing and asking for me to come back so we could talk. I hunched my shoulders and continued walking with Jack until I could no longer hear Chance's pathetic, drunken pleas for forgiveness.

**Whew, now that that is over and Chance is gone we can get back to Jack and Willow, right? Just so you guys know, the way that I had Chance ask Willow to prom was how my boyfriend in high school asked me to prom Junior year. He wrote "Prom?" on his butt in sharpie and mooned me and I said yes, go figure. Ok so the next chapter will be up soonish and I am really excited about it. By soonish I mean probably closer to this weekend because 4th of July week is a busy lifeguarding week at the pool for me! Prepare yourselves. As always, review at will!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Ok so I know I said I would post this later, but I just couldn't wait. I have had this chapter written for a while now and I really hope you guys like it!**

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We were already a month into our senior year. I couldn't believe it. Summer hadn't really been anything special. I moped around a lot, sad about what had happened with me and Chance. The day after everything went down he called me over and over again until I finally answered my phone. He apologized to me for twenty minutes, but in the end he couldn't make up for what he had done and I broke up with him. I was really upset about it, but I knew I had done the right thing. Jack and Miss Evie tried cheering me up all summer and finally I stopped being so sad and by the time school started I was back to normal.

Even though Jack and I didn't have any classes together, I was still making him study with me every night. I wanted to go to college on scholarship, so studying was required, but Jack had decided college wasn't in the cards for him. "Rock stars don't need to go to college." He had told me. Still, I was determined that I would do everything in my power to help him graduate. Jack was going to walk across that stage with us on graduation night if it was the last thing I did.

So studying is what we were doing the night before my 17th birthday. Jack was sitting across from me at the table, already getting distracted. "Come on Jack, focus." I pleaded.

"Why Wills? What's the point?" He asked, nudging my leg with his foot. "Come on. Let's go do something for your birthday. I bet there is something going on." He smiled those baby blues of his lighting up.

I melted just a little when I looked at him, but then I remembered that scholarship I was shooting for. "No Jackie, I can't. You know I want to go to college. You know I want to get a scholarship so I can do what I want to do."

He sighed, rolling his head back. "Yeah I know, I know." He leaned forward, taking my notebook from me, and started quizzing me. I leaned back in my chair, stretching my short legs out in front of me until my right foot was resting on Jack's knee.

We studied like that for about another hour, Miss Evie brought us some snacks, and then Jack decided it was time to stop studying for sure and got up to walk me home. We put on our jackets and stepped outside into the cold night air. We headed down the street, walking so close that our arms kept bumping into each other. "So Ma is planning some big birthday dinner for you tomorrow. Jerry and Camille are supposed to come and Camille is so big she looks like she is about to pop so you have to see that." He laughed, breath forming clouds in front of him.

"Oh I'll be there." I said laughing. "It isn't like my dad has anything planned for me." I said quietly, shuffling my feet in the snow. "He probably won't even remember that tomorrow is my birthday."

"I'm sure he will at least remember it's your birthday Wills." He put his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

"Yeah, and maybe he has a surprise party planned for me too." I said sarcastically, leaning my head on him.

He walked me to the steps of my front porch and then hugged me goodnight. "See you tomorrow Wills!" He called over his shoulder as he headed back down the street to his house.

I walked up the steps slowly, not really wanting to go inside. It was so cold though that I had to go in, so I opened the door and stepped inside. As soon as I turned around to face the living room I stopped dead in my tracks. My dad was sitting in his reclining chair, which he had turned to face the door, a bottle of whiskey empty on the ground next to him, and a pistol in his hand.

"Daddy?" My voice was shaking with fear. I didn't know what he was going to do with that gun, but it wasn't going to be good. I slowly moved around the room, edging my way along the walls. "Daddy what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry Willow." His voice was thick with alcohol, words slurred together, but there was something else in his voice too. It was sadness and sincerity. "I'm sorry that I forgot about you. I'm sorry I hit you. You deserve better. Just go stay with that Mercer lady, okay baby?" He had started lifting the pistol up to his head.

"Daddy, no. Put down the gun Daddy. It's ok, everything is going to be ok." I reached a shaking hand out to him.

"I can't do it anymore. I'll just keep hurting you baby. I'm no good and I will never be good again. Everything good went when Derek went." The pistol was in his mouth now.

I took a step towards him, hand still outstretched. "No Daddy, please." I whispered as he pulled the trigger and everything went black.

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When I opened my eyes I didn't know where I was. The walls were white, the sheets that were tucked around me were white, everything was too white. I was so disoriented and I couldn't figure out what had happened. I closed my eyes and it all came back. Jack walking me home, going inside, Daddy with the gun, the gun going off, the blood, then nothing. "Daddy." I whispered. It all connected. "No. No no no no no no!" I got louder and started thrashing around. I could feel the I.V. in my wrist pulling and I saw nurses come rushing into the room as the monitors around me started beeping. The last thing I saw as I felt a needle pricking the skin of my arm, was Jack's worried face appear in the doorway.

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When I came to I didn't know how long I had been out, but the room, _the hospital room_, I told myself mentally, was dark except for the light of a lamp set up near the monitors. I sat up slowly, wincing as my head began to throb and my shoulder protested. Why did I hurt so much? I looked around the room, trying to figure out what was happening, and my eyes landed on Jack asleep in a chair by the side of my bed. "He said he wouldn't leave until you woke up again." I turned to find the owner of the voice who had just spoken and found Miss Evie standing in the doorway. "How are you sweetie?" Concern was all over her face as she sat in a chair on the other side of my hospital bed.

I nodded. "Miss Evie, how did I get here?" My bottom lip quivered as I looked at her expectantly.

Sadness could be seen plainly in her eyes as she spoke. "Jackie said that he was walking home when he heard the gun go off. He ran back to your house and he said when he got inside you were on the floor and your dad was in his chair with the gun. Jack thought that your dad had shot you too and maybe he had just missed the second gunshot, but after he carried you to the porch he could tell that you hadn't been shot. He called for help and tried to get you to wake up until the ambulance arrived. They couldn't do anything to help your daddy sweetheart." She reached a hand out and grabbed onto mine, which was lying limp on the bed. "I am so sorry. Officer Green is going to come talk to you tomorrow to get the story straight. I asked him to wait, but he has to get his job done."

I nodded numbly. Then I realized my face was wet. I didn't know when I had started crying, but tears were flowing freely. After taking the hits and defending him for the past year, trying to keep what was left of our family together, my dad had left me. And Jack, oh Jackie, he had had to see the aftermath of my father's decision. I looked over at him still asleep in the chair and wanted nothing more in that moment than for him to sit with me and hug me and tell me it would be ok.

"I'm taking care of all of the arrangements for the funeral sweetie, so you just focus on resting. You hit your head pretty hard." She stood up to leave, giving my hand a squeeze, and started walking to the door.

"Miss Evie?" I called after her.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"What…" My voice caught and I cleared my throat, "What's going to happen to me? Where will I go?"

She smiled, "Well you are going to stay with me of course. I already talked to Officer Green and we are going to sort everything out."

"Thank you Miss Evie." I said quietly as she walked out of sight. I heard a sound and looked over just in time to see Jack wake up.

He stretched his legs out in front of him and blinked his eyes sleepily until they settle on me. He got up and quickly walked over to the side of the bed, leaning over me worriedly. "Thank God you're awake Wills. We were worried about you."

I couldn't hold it together after I looked Jack in the eye and I broke down, sobs wracking my body. "Oh shit." Jack muttered as he climbed into the hospital bed, barely fitting in next to me. "Hey, hey, it's going to be ok." He said quietly as he wrapped his arms around me. "Ma is taking care of everything. You are going to stay with us. We'll take care of you Wills. I'll take care of you. It's going to be alright."

Jack held me as I cried myself to sleep, whispering reassurances into my hair.

0000000

Two days later, they were releasing me from the hospital. Miss Evie and Jack came to pick me up. When we got to the car I suddenly froze. "School." I said quietly to myself. "Miss Evie, has anyone talked to the school? Did they tell them I wouldn't be there? Did someone get my work? I can't get behind." Panic rising in my voice.

Jack put his hands on my arms and looked me in the eye. "Calm down Wills. Ma and I talked to the teachers and I've been getting your work and notes. It's okay, just breathe."

I nodded and took a deep breath as I got into the car. Other than Miss Evie telling me she brought my things over to her house, we rode in relative silence. We went straight from the hospital to the cemetery. We were burying Daddy today. We pulled up to the parking lot for the cemetery and I almost couldn't get out of the car. It wasn't until Jack held out his hand to me and said "Come on Wills. We have to go say goodbye" that I took his hand and climbed out.

We walked down the path leading to the gravesite, Jack still holding onto my hand. As we got closer, I could see the tarp draped over the dirt and the coffin sitting next to it and I froze. "I can't do it Jack." I whispered.

He pulled me in for a hug. "Yes you can Willow. If you don't you will be beyond pissed at yourself later, I know you."

I knew he was right, so I followed him down the path the rest of the way to what would be Daddy's grave.

It was just me, Jack, and Miss Evie standing graveside as the preacher said the words of a prayer and asked if anyone wanted to say anything. I stepped up and walked to the side of the coffin. "Goodbye Daddy." I said softly, placing my hand on the surface of the coffin as tears slipped out of my eyes, splashing on the polished wood. "Say hi to Derek for me. I m-miss you guys. So m-much." The tears were flowing freely from my eyes as my voice caught on those last words. I felt Jack's arms come around me and I buried my face in his chest as I shook with the force of the sobs. He and his mom led me away from the graveside as they began lowering the coffin and I looked over my shoulder one last time to see the coffin holding my father's body disappear into the ground.

0000000

When we pulled up to the Mercer house I looked out the window to see Bobby getting out of his car. He turned as he heard his mother's car and stood waiting for us with his hands in his pockets. I climbed out of the backseat and we stood looking at each other for a second. Then Bobby broke the silence. "Hey there small fry, you ok?" he asked quietly.

I bit my lip, not wanting to cry again, and shook my head. "No, not really." I whispered.

He closed the space between us then, wrapping me in a warm hug. "It's gonna be alright Wills." He said as he pulled back to look at me, wiping a tear off of my cheek and placing a kiss on my forehead. "Let's go inside. Jerry and Camille are waiting in there and they have food."

We walked into the house and I was wrapped in yet another hug by Jerry, followed by a hug from Camille. They gave their condolences and then we all migrated to the dining room for food. As everyone ate, I only pushed my food around my plate, maybe taking two bites the entire meal. Everyone was casting worried looks in my direction, but I kept my head down, focusing on making shapes out of the food. I felt a foot nudge my ankle and looked up to look at Jack. He widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows, nodding his head at my plate as he mouthed "eat". I stabbed a green bean with my fork and put it in my mouth, never breaking eye contact. After I chewed and swallowed, I went back to making a horse out of the food on my plate. That was definitely the better use of my time.

After everyone finished eating and I had successfully shaped a small army of farm animals out of my food, we cleaned up and went to sit in the living room. I sat down on the couch and brought my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them as I watched everyone. Jerry and Camille were putting on their jackets and getting ready to leave. They hugged everyone, said their goodbyes to me, and just before they went out the door, I saw Jerry hand Miss Evie a small package with a bow on it. _That's probably my birthday present,_ I thought, _I completely missed my birthday._

"Willow, you don't have to open this right now, but Jerry and Camille wanted you to have this for your birthday. All of your things are in your room upstairs. I didn't unpack much so you can put your things where you want them." Miss Evie said softly as she handed me the package.

"I guess I should give you this now too." Bobby said, handing me a package that he had obviously wrapped himself.

I nodded at them, giving them both a faint smile. Jack had run upstairs after saying goodbye to Jerry and Camille so I figured I wasn't getting anything from him.

I stood up and headed upstairs to my room. Once I got there I shut the door behind me and looked at the boxes of my things that had been moved in. It was sad that all of my things could fit into three boxes. I sat on my bed and began to open my gifts. Jerry and Camille had gotten me a beautiful bracelet. It was braided leather, with a silver wolf charm, and a silver clasp. I smiled as I looked at it. I couldn't believe that Jerry had remembered all about how I wanted to work with wolves. Then I opened Bobby's present. It was a picture of all the Mercers and me from last Christmas. We were all standing around Miss Evie; Bobby was smiling and pushing Jack's head to the side, Jerry was laughing at the two of them, Jack was laughing with his arm around me, and I was smiling up at all of them. Bobby had gone through the trouble to cut a picture of Angel out of somewhere and he had taped him in next to all of us with a thought bubble going from his head saying "sorry I had to go off and be a jarhead". I laughed and went to put it on my dresser. After setting it down, something reflecting the light caught my eye. When I looked at it a little closer I saw that it was a picture from my room at my house.

It was a picture of me, my dad, and Derek on the beach, taken a day or two before Derek died. Dad and Derek were holding me up between the two of them and we were all smiling at the camera. My eyes were clouded with tears as I held the frame in my hands. Then, I felt a sudden wave of anger come over me and I threw the frame at the wall and screamed. The glass in the frame broke as it thudded to the floor.

I turned around, tears streaming down my face, as I heard Jack throw the door open. "Willow, are you ok?" When he saw my face he dropped what he had been holding in his hands and rushed over to me, wrapping me tightly in his arms. "Hey, shhhh, it's ok, it's ok." He ran his hand over my hair, smoothing it down, as he whispered in my ear. "It's ok, I've got you. Breathe Wills, breathe."

"Jackie, I can't take it." I said, my voice catching. "I feel like I'm breaking and I can't hold myself together." I looked up at him and felt tears fall out of the corners of my eyes.

Jack cupped my cheek in his hand, brushing the tears away with his thumb. "Hey now, I'm not going to let you break. Okay?"

I nodded my head and through the tears I could see Jack's face get closer to mine and I closed my eyes just before our lips met. The kiss was everything I wanted and everything I needed. My arms went up around Jack's neck and he tightened his grip on my waist. I raised myself up on the tips of my toes and pressed my body closer to his. Jack pulled back a little and I opened my eyes to see him smiling at me. "Hey," I said softly, smiling back at him.

"Hey," he said smiling even bigger. He leaned in and kissed me again lightly. "Do you want to see what I got you now?"

I nodded, moving to sit on my bed as Jack picked up the package he dropped when he walked in. He placed it in my hands as he sat down next to me. I turned the small package over in my hands, trying to figure out what was in it. Jack's foot was tapping out a beat, his anxiousness for me to open the package showing, so I began unwrapping it. Peeling back the paper, I revealed a small gray box and inside that box was a heart shaped locket. It was the most beautiful locket I had ever seen. It was silver with my initials engraved on it. Around the edges of the locket, vines had been engraved, twisting and curling around it. "Jack, it's beautiful." I whispered.

"Open it." He urged, nudging my arm with his elbow.

I did as he asked and inside the locket was a picture of me and Jack. Jack's arm was around me and I was smiling at the camera while Jack was smiling down at me. "I love it Jackie." He helped me put it on and when I turned to face him he kissed me again. I leaned back on the bed, pulling him down next to me. My arms were around his neck and his arms were around my waist as I smiled at him.

Jack brushed my hair out of my face and placed one more kiss on my lips. As he sat up to get off of the bed I grabbed his hand. "Don't go Jack, I don't want to be alone tonight."

He laid back down beside me and placed a kiss on the tip of my nose. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

I put my head on his chest, taking a deep breath, and closed my eyes. As I fell asleep I could feel Jack's chest vibrating as he hummed a song and rubbed my back until I drifted off.

* * *

**Ok so I know it got a little sad there, but I hope you guys are happy with how the chapter ended. Now I'm being serious this time when I say I won't have another chapter ready for a few days because I haven't started writing the next one yet. Please let me know what you think of this one! **


	9. Chapter 8

**AHHHHHH! I am so sorry it took me so long! I tried to make this chapter longer than usual to make up for it so I hope you like it!**

* * *

It had been a week and a half since my dad died and a week since the kiss. Jack and I had never really talked about the kiss. We were both just kind of on the same page about the state of our relationship. We had crossed over the threshold of "just friends" into boyfriend-girlfriend territory. Things were still kind of awkward at times, like when his mom caught us cuddling on the couch and just shook her head saying, "Well it's about time you two." Sometimes I wondered if there was anything that woman didn't know. She always seemed to be two steps ahead of all of us. Other than the few awkward times though everything was great. Jack just understood me and I understood him. He had talked to me a little about his past; about the foster parents who hit him if he spoke which made him not talk for a year and about the foster parents who made him work for his food which got him into the habit of hoarding his belongings. We understood each other and trusted each other and that was all I could ask for.

I was finally ready to get back to school. Jack had been bringing me my homework everyday so I could try to keep up and I had finally gotten everything done so I felt good about going back. We pulled into the parking lot in my dad's car, _my car_, and after I turned off the engine I couldn't get out of the car. I turned and looked at Jack. "I don't know if I can do it Jackie." I whispered.

He reached over and grabbed my hand. "Yes you can Wills." He looked me in the eye as he brought my hand up to his lips and placed a kiss on my fingers. "If you need anything you come find me. It's going to be ok."

I nodded and took in a deep breath through my nose. When I got out of the car, I grabbed my bag from the backseat and walked around to the other side where Jack was waiting on me. He reached a hand out to me and I took it, smiling faintly at him as I wound my fingers through his, locking our hands together. We walked through the doors like that, people turning to look as we walked past.

It felt like that first day when I walked through those front doors all over again, but this time I didn't care as much about the staring because I had Jack and I knew I had Jack. His hand holding mine was proof of that. Him sitting on my bed, holding me while I cried about my dad and everything else, proved that. The sweet kisses he would give me when I least expected it proved that I had him. Jack would stick with me no matter what and that was the one thing that I had faith in.

Then, just like on that first day, I heard the whispers.

"I hear he did it right in front of her."

"I heard that she did it herself because she got tired of him hitting her."

"I bet he did it because he could stand to have a daughter who was mixed up with the Mercers."

I could feel the blood rushing to my face as Jack squeezed my hand. I recognized the person who had said the last thing I had heard, Trish. I couldn't take it. I jerked my hand out of Jack's and spun to face her. Her eyes widened as our eyes locked and I could feel tears slipping out of my eyes. I balled my hand up into a fist and swung, making contact with the locker just next to her head. As my fist hit the grated locker door with a bang, Trish dropped to the ground, covering her hands with her face. "Next time that will be your face" I growled in a voice that I barely recognized as mine. I glared at her and turned back around, stalking over to where Jack was waiting for me.

My hand was throbbing and Jack lifted it up gently so he could inspect it. "Geez Wills." He muttered as he turned my hand over in his. My knuckles were bleeding from hitting the sharp metal edges of the locker. "Wills we've got to let the nurse look at this."

"No, it's fine Jackie, really. I don't need to go to the nurse, Let's just go to class ok?"

He looked me in the eye, blue eye full of concern. "Willow, please. You need to let the nurse fix this." He raised his brows as he waited for me to argue with him.

I took a deep breath. "Ok, let's go."

0000000

After the nurse clucked over me and wrapped up my hand, Jack walked me to class. "I'll see you after school." He kissed me on the forehead, "Don't punch anybody while I'm not around." He smiled as I swung at his arm, punching him lightly before he walked away.

Class went pretty smoothly and all of my teachers were very understanding of my situation. They were impressed with the fact that I had already completed all of my makeup work. What my teachers didn't understand was that I got all of my work done because if I stopped doing work I thought I might lose my mind.

No one else said anything about my dad for the rest of the day, at least not where I could hear them. I guess they were all too afraid that I would rearrange their faces if they did. After classes were over I walked down the hall, looking for Jack so we could go, and I quickly spotted him running down the hall towards me with a slightly panicked look on his face. I felt my heart clench with worry as I hurried to meet him. "What is it?" I asked as soon as he was close enough to hear me.

"Ma just called me. She said Jerry called her and Camille is having the baby. Ma is on her way now and she said we could meet her there if we wanted to."

_Camille is having a baby_, the thought raced across my mind as I tried to comprehend exactly what was happening. _A baby, holy shit a baby_! "Do you want to go?" I asked him as it all sank in.

"Yeah, yeah my brother's first kid is being born. Yeah I want to be there." He said, acting like he was just as shocked as I was.

"Well let's go Uncle Jack." I said smiling as I grabbed his arm and began dragging him quickly towards my car in the parking lot.

0000000

We raced to the hospital, driving as fast as it was safe to. I sped into the first parking spot I saw and slammed the car into park. We jumped out of the car, racing into the front doors of the hospital. After we found out where to go from the lady sitting behind the front desk, we ran down the hall towards the maternity ward where we spotted Miss Evie sitting in a chair. We could hear inhuman sounds coming through the closed door next to her.

"How is she?" I asked as we stopped in front of her.

"Oh, she is doing good sweetie. Jerry and her mother are in there with her right now. The doctor said it won't be much longer now." She said as she hugged me and then pulled Jack in for a hug.

"How does it feel to almost be a grandma?" Jack said laughing as he wrapped his arms around his mother. "You're getting old Ma."

"Jack Mercer, I am not old." She said pulling away and feigning a look of shock and hurt.

Just as she said this, we heard one final scream come from the room next to us and then silence. We all stared at the door and you could feel the worry radiating from each of us as we waited. Then, we heard what we had all be waiting for, a loud cry of a baby who was not very pleased. We all looked at each other, smiling and happy that everything seemed ok, as the door opened quickly and a beaming Jerry looked out at us. "It's a girl. A perfect, healthy baby girl."

"Oh congratulations sweetheart!" Miss Evie said as she wrapped her arms around her son, happy tears slipping down her face.

"Thanks Ma." Jerry turned to look at me and Jack. "What are you two doing here? I didn't think you would be able to make it."

"Ma called me right after school got out and told us to meet her here. Congratulations man!" Jack put his arms around his brother and patted him on the back before letting him go.

"Hey Wills." Jerry and I hugged and then he asked, "Do you guys want to come see her?"

We all nodded simultaneously and then followed him into the room. It was a little crowded with all of us in there, but we fit. We all stood around the bed where Camille was laying holding a tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket. She was grinning from ear to ear as she looked up from the face of her new daughter, "Everyone, meet Daniela Mercer."

She handed the little bundle to Jerry who then proceeded to carry his tiny daughter over to his mother. "Do you want to hold her Ma?"

"Jeremiah Mercer, what kind of question is that? Of course I want to hold her." She said as she held out her arms.

He gently placed Daniela in his mother's arms and then moved to stand next to Camille as Miss Evie cooed at the little girl in her arms. Then she looked up at Jack, "Would you like to hold her Jackie?"

Jack got a slightly panicked look on his face. "Nah Ma, I'm good. I don't want to break her."

"Can I hold her?" I asked softly, looking at the little baby in awe. I honestly hadn't really seen a baby since my dad brought Derek home from the hospital and now all of the memories were flooding back.

"Sure you can sweetie." Miss Evie said as she handed me Daniela.

I looked down at the baby in my arms, amazed at how a person could be so tiny. It was crazy to me that this little girl in my arms with tiny fingers and toes would one day be big enough to walk, talk, and do all kinds of things. "Hi baby girl." I said softly as I smiled down at Daniela. I touched her tiny hand with one of my fingers and my smile grew even bigger as she wrapped her tiny hand around it and held on tight.

"She is so tiny." I heard Jack's voice come from over my shoulder and I turned my head to look at him as he stared down at Daniela in awe.

We stayed like that for a second, me staring at him staring at the baby, before he looked up and our eyes met. I blushed a little as he smiled at me, but the moment was interrupted when Daniela began to squirm in my arms. "Looks like somebody wants to go back to her momma." I said as I walked over to the bed and handed Camille her daughter. I turned back around and went to stand with Jack again, putting my back to him and leaning against him as he put his arms around my waist. He kissed me on the cheek and then rested his chin on the top of my head as we stood there watching his family welcome the newest member.

0000000

It was almost Thanksgiving, the day before Thanksgiving to be exact, and it was the two year anniversary of Derek's death. Everyone had kind of been tiptoeing around me all day; I think they were afraid that I was going to burst into tears at any second, but in all honesty, I was doing ok. Sure, I had an achy feeling in my chest, like someone had punched me in the heart, but I knew that being sad and crying wasn't going to do much good.

I was curled up on the couch leaning on Jack when the front door flew open and Bobby walked in. He looked over at us, "Now I know you guys missed me, but don't crowd me, please one at a time."

Jack and I got up off of the couch, laughing as we walked over to Bobby. Jack got to him first and hugged his brother, "Welcome back man."

I waited my turn and after they finished hugging Bobby turned to me, arms open. "Hey small fry." He said as he wrapped me in a bear hug. "How you holding up?" he asked me quietly.

I pulled back and looked at him, smiling faintly. "I'm doing ok."

He reached out a hand and ruffled my hair before walking towards the kitchen yelling, "Ma! I'm home!"

Miss Evie popped her head out of the kitchen smiling. "Bobby Mercer I knew you were here before you walked in the door. I could feel it in my bones."

Bobby walked into the kitchen, Jack and I close behind, "Smells good, when are we eating?"

"Ten minutes so go wash up. Jackie, Willow, can you two help me set the table?"

We both nodded at went to get the dishes and silverware. Jack and I helped Miss Evie set the table every night so we had a routine now. He put out the plates and glasses while I did the silverware. As soon as we finished, the food was coming out of the oven and Miss Evie brought it over to put on the table. We all sat in our seats, joined hands, and said grace before we dug in to the food.

"So, is Jerry coming over tomorrow?" Bobby asked before he put a forkful of food in his mouth.

Miss Evie nodded, "He and Camille are coming over with the baby tomorrow to eat with us."

"Good, that means we can go play hockey after." He looked over at me and Jack. "You guys down to play?"

Jack nodded, "Of course man, it's tradition."

"I'm actually pretty good now." I said looking up from my plate. "Jack and I have been practicing after school."

"No way!" Bobby said laughing.

"It's true man, she could probably give you a run for you money." Jack said, "Those poor guys never even seen her coming and she just takes them out. It's hilarious."

Bobby clearly didn't believe this. "I'll believe it when I see it."

After we finished dinner, Jack and I did the dishes while Bobby and Miss Evie caught up in the living room. I smiled to myself as I passed another dish to Jack for him to dry. I loved the routine we had fallen into and how nicely I fit into life in the Mercer house. Sure, I was still reeling from my dad's death, but I couldn't even imagine how terrible things would have been if the Mercer's hadn't taken me in.

We all sat together for a little while before going our separate ways for bed. Jack walked upstairs with me and hugged me, placing a kiss on my forehead. "Night Wills."

"Night Jackie." I said smiling as I went in my room and closed the door behind me.

0000000

Thanksgiving morning was a blur. Jack and I helped Miss Evie finish cooking while Bobby sat in the living room watching hockey and laughing because "all of his women were in the kitchen cooking for him". I heard the door open as I pulled the turkey out of the oven and heard Bobby yell, "Jerry!"

"Cut it out man, you gotta be quiet. She is finally sleeping." I heard Jerry say as I set the turkey on the counter and walked out to say hello.

"Hey Jer." I said quietly as he sat the baby carrier on the couch and walked over to give me a hug as Bobby knelt down to say hello to his niece for the first time.

After hugging Jerry, I went to say hi to Camille and overheard Bobby. "Hey Jer, you coming to play hockey with us after we eat?"

"Aw man, I don't know. We've got Daniela and it gets rough out there when we play."

"Come on Jer, don't be such a wimp. Wills is playing, the fairy is playing, we just need you. Man up."

Jerry sighed, "Fine, I'll play."

As Bobby smiled and slapped his brother on the shoulder, Jack poked his head out of the kitchen door, "Hey Jer, hey Camille." He said smiling. "Ma says the food is ready so come and get it."

0000000

After we all finished eating and cleaning up, me and the guys grabbed our skates and sticks and headed to the rink in Bobby's clunker of a car. When we got to the rink I went to put on my skates while Bobby tried to find some poor suckers to play against us. Once I finished lacing everything up I looked up to see Bobby walking over with four random guys. "I found us some victims guys." He said as I stood up and he tossed me my stick.

"Aw come on, we aren't playing if you guys have a girl on your team man." Said the tallest of the group.

I felt my face get hot as I blushed and stepped forward to give that guy a piece of my mind. Jack grabbed the back of my sweater and I jerked to a stop as I heard Bobby speak up. "What? You too scared to play against a girl?"

"Nah man, we just don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Man, it isn't her you have to worry about getting hurt. She could kick your ass any day of the week." Bobby said confidently.

The four guys looked at her hesitantly and then the tall one spoke. "Ok we'll play."

As I walked towards the ice and past our opponents I heard one of them say, "Go easy on her, she looks like she breaks easy."

My face got hot again as I skated towards the middle of the rink and Jack came up next to me. "Don't listen to them. It will just be even funnier when you knock them on their asses."

I nodded, gritting my teeth as I stared them down, waiting for the puck to be dropped. As soon as the puck hit the ice, Bobby hit the other guy with his shoulder and stole the puck. He began skating towards the goal with the rest of us at his sides. When one of the other guys tried to go in to steal the puck, Jack or Jerry would take them out. I hit the ice with my stick and looked over, "Bobby!" I yelled. I was wide open because the other guys didn't think I could actually play.

Bobby smiled and passed the puck to me. As soon as I had the puck I took off with it, weaving between the guys trying to block me and spinning around them to avoid getting hit. Once I was in position, I swung and hit the puck. As soon as it hit the net I threw my hands up in the air. The Mercer boys crowded around me, cheering and slapping me on the back. "Well you have gotten better Wills." Bobby said smiling. "Now let's go embarrass them a little more."

The guys on the other team continued to underestimate me up until I took out one of their players. Jack had the puck and the short guy on the team skated up behind him. I got down low as I sped over and I rammed into his side, standing up a little as I hit him so I could knock him off balance. He slammed into the wall of the rink looking stunned as I skated away backwards, smiling and wiggling my fingers at him. I caught the tall guy trying to do the same thing, so I came up behind him and reached up, grabbing the collar of his shirt, and I jerked him down and to the side, throwing him into the wall as well.

After that, the other guys were a little more wary of me, glancing over their shoulders. They hadn't realized how fast and sneaky I could be. They just thought that since I was small I wouldn't be able to play well.

We were winning 9-2. Bobby passed me the puck and I was about to move in for another goal when all of a sudden someone slammed into me and drove me all the way into the wall around the rink. The back of my head hit the Plexiglas with a loud crack and I finally understood why cartoons had stars going around their heads after they got hit. I actually thought I was seeing stars. The hit had knocked the wind out of me and I wheezed a little as I sank to the ground, trying to catch my breath.

As I sat on the ice, still struggling to breathe, I saw Bobby and Jack hit the guy who hit me. They slammed him into the wall a few feet away and were yelling at him. I couldn't hear what they were saying because of the pounding in my ears. _Damn, my head hurts_. I thought as Jerry knelt down in front of me. "Willow," He said worriedly, "Willow look at me. You ok?"

I nodded my head as I looked at him. Over his shoulder I could see the teammates of the guy who hit me shaking their heads. I turned to look back and Bobby and Jack just in time to see Jack, whose face was blood red by this point, punch the other guy in the face. Satisfied with his hit, he turned around, shaking the hand that he had used to punch the guy, and skated over to me.

"Wills, baby, you ok?" His eyes were wide with worry as he crouched down and put a hand on my cheek. After I nodded he stood up again. "Ok, let's get you up off of that ice." He reached down for my hand and pulled me up.

"Woah." I said, wincing at the pain in my ribs. My vision swam a little and I fell forward onto Jack's chest.

Jack put his arm around me and led me off of the ice and to one of the benches next to the rink. "Wills, Willow, look at me ok." Jack put his hands on either side of my face and looked me in the eye.

I couldn't focus on him; it was like there were two of him. "I can't focus Jackie." I said, a little freaked out.

Jack turned to look up at Bobby, who had skated over after beating the shit out of the guy who hit me. "I think she might have a concussion."

"Ok, let's get her home and Ma will take a look at her."

"Come on baby," Jack said softly, "we're gonna go home now ok?"

I nodded as Jack put his arm around me. He helped me up and led me to Bobby's car.

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Miss Evie decided that I should have a doctor look at me after we got home. They took me by the hospital and the doctor told us that I had a mild concussion and some bruised ribs. He told me to stay off of the ice for a little while and that I had to be woken up every couple of hours to make sure I was ok.

We went back home and Jack helped me up the stairs to my room. After he had me settled on my bed he went downstairs to grab some food. When he came back upstairs he sat down on the edge of my bed and I shifted so I could lay my head in his lap. Jack was running his fingers through my hair as I fell asleep.

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**I hope you guys liked it! As always, review at will!**


	10. Chapter 9

**This chapter was really hard to write. That awkward moment when your own story makes you tear up. Thanks for the reviews guys they really motivate me to write more and update faster. Here is the next chapter!**

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Christmas came and went and before I knew it Jack and I were a month into our last semester of high school. Thanks to me forcing him to study, Jack hadn't gotten anything less than a B all semester and as long as he did the same this time around he would be able to graduate. Me and his mom couldn't have been more proud, but he just ran his hand through his hair and shrugged saying that it was no big deal. Every time he said that graduating was no big deal I slapped him on the arm, placed a kiss on his cheek, and told him it was a huge deal.

It was the day before Valentine's Day and it was also time for me to find out if I had been accepted to the school in Georgia that I had applied to. They had a program there that would let me graduated a certified Wildlife Biologist which would put me on track to do what I wanted to do with my life. Jack and I hadn't really talked about what we were going to do when we graduated. I knew he was planning on trying to find a way to move to New York with the guys in his band and he knew I was dead set on going to school in Georgia. We just didn't know what we would do about _us_ when it got to that point. I never really wanted to talk about it, but if I did bring it up Jack would get fidgety and tell me that we had plenty of time to figure it out. We had been dating five months and I knew I loved him, I just didn't know if he knew I did or if he loved me back.

We were sitting in his room one night after he got back from band practice. He had just sat down on the bed next to me when he pulled a big envelope out from under his leather jacket. "Look what came in the mail today." He said, smiling despite the sad look in his eyes.

I froze as I looked at him. I felt like someone was squeezing my heart and I was torn between ripping the envelope open and leaving it in Jack's hands. My mind raced and so did my heart, "You open it." I said clearing my throat.

"You sure?" he asked. When I nodded he ripped the top of the envelope open and pulled out a thick piece of official looking paper. He was quiet for a second, lips pressed together as he scanned the words in front of him.

"What does it say?" I asked, my voice shaking with the nerves.

He looked up at me and, slowly, a sad smile spread across his face. "You got in Wills. You got some big scholarship too."

I squealed and jumped on him, throwing my arms around his neck as I knocked him back onto the bed. He laughed as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair. I pulled back and looked at him as he put a hand on my face, stroking my cheek with his thumb. "I'm proud of you Wills." He said softly as a tear escaped my eye. "Hey, what's wrong?" His eyebrows drew together in a concerned look as he wiped the tear away.

I lay my head on his chest and curled into a ball by his side. "What are we going to do Jackie? I'm going to Georgia and you're going to New York. How is this going to work?" I whispered.

He stroked my hair and was quiet for a second before he spoke. "We'll figure something out ok." He lifted my chin so that I was looking at him. I could see his throat working and his Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped. "Willow, I love you and everything is going to be fine."

I stared at him and smiled through the tears. "I love you too Jackie." I said as I scooted up and kissed him.

Jack's hand ran up my back and his fingers tangled themselves in my hair as he held me close. I straddled him and I parted my lips slightly as he ran his tongue across them and he took that as an invitation to explore further. As our tongues twined themselves together, Jack ran his free hand along the waistband of my jeans and my hands worked their way through his hair, loving the way it felt between my fingers. I pulled back for a second to catch my breath. We were both breathing hard as I pressed my forehead to his and looked him in the eye. He was smiling at me, I could see it in his eyes, but there was something else there too, a question. I thought about it for a second as he lazily dragged his fingers up and down my back, hiking up my shirt a little, and then I nodded.

His eyes grew wide for a second, "Really?"

I nodded again, smiling even wider as I pressed my lips to his.

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When I woke up I was covered with a sheet and Jack's arm was slung over my waist. He was laying on his stomach, face down in the pillow, and the sheet was scrunched up around his waist. I turned onto my side and smiled as I looked at him. As I leaned over and placed a kiss on his shoulder, he turned his head towards me and smiled, eyes half closed. "Hey." He mumbled.

"Hey. I should probably get back to my room." I said quietly. "I don't want your mom to walk in on us when she wakes up. She might kick me out of the house."

"Ma would never kick you out. She thinks you're an angel, but she might be a little pissed if she walked in on this." He laughed as he sat up slowly.

I leaned over the side of the bed and grabbed my underwear and Jack's shirt off of the ground. He watched me with a faint smile on his face as I pulled his shirt over my head and put my underwear on. I slid off of the side of the bed and stood up, thankful for once that I was so short and I didn't need to find my pants because Jack's shirt covered everything that needed to be covered. Jack reached out and grabbed my hand before I could walk away and pulled me back towards him, pressing his lips to mine before he let me go and I walked away shaking my head and smiling. As I reached the door I hear Jack softly say, "I mean it Wills, I really do love you."

I smiled as I leaned against the doorframe, looking at him stretched out on the bed. "And I really do love you too Jack. Always have, always will."

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We were a month away from graduation and Jack was still on track to walk with us despite his best efforts. Even though he was in a band and had officially decided he was too cool for school, I used my girlfriend powers and made his study and do his work.

It was a Friday night and I was in the bathroom getting ready to go to Jack's first gig. A local bar had offered to let his band play after hearing one of their songs. He wasn't paying them anything, but the fact that people would be hearing their music was enough to make Jack bounce off the walls with excitement. I had been trying in vain to get him to calm down all day, but he just couldn't hold himself together. He had left the house an hour and a half ago to do a sound check. Before he walked out the door he looked at me, biting his nails and bouncing on the balls of his feet, "What if they hate us Wills?" He asked quietly.

I stood up on my tiptoes, putting my hands on his shoulders as I placed a kiss on his cheek. "They are going to love you guys Jackie. Stop stressing about it and I'll see you there."

I smiled into the mirror as I put the finishing touches on my hair. I had taken the time to actually curl it instead of letting it do its own thing and I had to say all the time and effort was worth it, my hair looked great for once. I leaned close to the mirror, taking a better look at my makeup. I had put on a little more than usual, but I figured since Jack's band played rock music I should look the part of a rock star's girlfriend. The thick line of black eyeliner and dark eye shadow really made my green eyes pop. I had struggled with what to wear, my go to sweater look wasn't going to cut it tonight. I had finally landed on a strappy black dress that was hidden in the back of my closet. The dress was a little tight, but it didn't look bad. I paired it with my black boots since I didn't own a pair of heels.

Miss Evie was walking into her room as I left and she stopped when she saw me. "Oh look at you sweetie, you look nice."

I smiled as I pulled at the straps of my dress uncomfortable, afraid that maybe it was a bad choice or that it was too low cut. _I should change, but I'll look like an idiot if I show up in a sweater_. "Thanks Miss Evie."

"You and Jackie look out for each other tonight okay?"

"Yes ma'am." I said as she shut the door and I headed down the stairs and out the door.

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I pulled into the parking lot of the bar and sent Jack a text letting him know I was there as I turned off my car. I got out and started walking towards the door, heading towards the back of the line of people waiting to be let in. Before I reached the line though I heard someone yell my name and I turned my head to see Jack by the door waving me over. I walked to him quickly and he swept me up in a hug before he held me at arm's length to get a better look at me. "You look amazing Wills." He said as his eyes travelled hungrily up my body.

"Thanks Jackie." I said, blushing.

He grabbed my hand, weaving his fingers through mine and locking our hands together as he dragged me through the door, telling the doorman "She's with me man." We pushed our way towards the front of the crowd and Jack shoved some giggling girls out of the way to place me right in front of the stage. "Stay here ok?" He asked looking me in the eye. "That way I can see you when I'm up there." He looked over his shoulder as Sam, the drummer in the band yelled his name. "I've gotta go now, we're about to start." He pulled me tightly to him and I could feel his heart hammering in his chest as kissed me. "Don't you dare move." He said softly as he gave me a squeeze. He placed a quick kiss on my forehead before turned and jogged through the crowd and disappeared backstage.

I turned to face the stage just in time to see Jack and the rest of the guys walk out. Jack was grinning from ear to ear as he stood behind the microphone that was right in front of me and he looked down at me and winked before he started picking out a melody on his guitar. Girls started screaming as he looked out over the crowd and yelled "We are The Spares!" as Sam started drumming and David, the bass player started playing.

Ten seconds into the song everyone was dancing, swaying or jumping to the music, and girls were screaming shrilly. Two of the screaming girls were next to me and as I closed my eyes, letting the sound of Jack's voice singing the lyrics wash over me, I overheard one of them shout to the other, "Oh my fucking God! Do you see him? The guy singing is so fucking hot."

"Isn't that Jack Mercer?" Her friend yelled back.

"Yeah I think so."

"Isn't he gay?"

"Honey I don't care! I'd fuck him silly any day of the week."

After that I tried to ignore them. They obviously didn't realize who I was and there was no reason I should let what they were saying get to me. I shouldn't be jealous. They were just talking, that's all it was. It wasn't like Jack would even pay attention to those girls.

After about five songs, the guys took a break and I looked around for Jack. I pushed through the crowd and jumped up, trying to see over the people around me. Finally, I spotted him at the bar. He was sitting on a stool facing one of the girls who had been gushing about him earlier. He smiled and said something to her and I could see her giggling obnoxiously from where I stood. Jealousy slowly took over my brain as I gritted my teeth and walked towards them. Now I know I was over reacting, but I had been a little sensitive recently because graduation was coming up and Jack and I only had a few more weeks together.

I put my arm on Jack's shoulder once I reached him, "Jack can we talk?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything the girl he had been talking to cut him off. "Excuse you, rude. We were talking. Wait your turn sweetie. You can't just interrupt us."

I spun around to look at her. I wanted to slap the smug look off of her face, but I held back. "Excuse _you_ bitch. I don't have to wait my turn. You can sit your fake ass down and wait for me to finish talking to _my_ boyfriend."

"Geez Wills." I heard Jack say from behind me.

I turned to face him again. "Don't 'geez Wills' me. I need to talk to you." I turned and walked towards a back hallway that wasn't crowded, knowing that Jack would follow me.

"What the hell was that about Wills?" Jack demanded when I finally turn to face him. I could tell he was getting frustrated.

"Don't you get mad at me Jack Mercer. I wasn't the one flirting with random groupies who want to fuck me." I could feel my face getting hot and I knew I was overreacting, but I couldn't stop the crazy from escaping. It was like my mouth had a mind of its own.

I could see a vein pop out in Jack's forehead, reminding me of Bobby when he got mad, and his face turned red. "I was not flirting Willow and that girl didn't want to fuck me!" His voice got louder right before he finished.

"I'm not stupid Jack. I know how this works. You become a rock star and all the girls want you so you just go for them since they throw themselves at you. And I heard her say she would 'fuck you silly any day of the week'."

"Wills, stop being crazy. I'm not going to go for those girls. What is wrong with you?"

_Just stop talking Willow. Just stop before you ruin everything._ The sane part of my brain was telling me, but I couldn't control the part of my brain that was going crazy at the idea of not living near Jack anymore in just a few weeks. "Why shouldn't you go for those girls? I'm leaving in a few weeks and then there will be nothing to stop you. Why should we even try? You want to be a rock star so bad, go be a rock star. I'm sure that girl is still waiting at the bar." Tears were sliding down my cheeks as I turned to walk out the back door of the bar.

Jack grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. "Willow, I love you goddamnit. That's why I won't go for those girls." He shook me a little for emphasis. "What is all this coming from? Don't you think we are going to keep trying even after you leave?"

"I don't know." I said, barely a whisper. Then I looked up at him, my jaw set stubbornly. "Let me go Jack."

I felt his grip on my arms loosen and I pulled away. I could hear him yelling after me as I walked out the door. I wiped the tears off my face as I got into my car. I sat still for a second as what I just did sank in, and then I hit the steering wheel repeatedly as I screamed in frustration. After I got myself calmed down, I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, heading towards home.

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I felt a hand shake my shoulder, waking me up, and I opened my eyes slowly. My face was puffy from crying and my eyes felt scratchy. Finally, my eyes focused on the face that was in front of me, Jack's face. He was kneeling on the ground next to my bed so that he was eye level with me. "What's going on with you Wills?" He asked softly as he ran his thumb across my cheek.

"I don't know Jackie." I said, my voice cracking as tears welled up in my eyes. "Every time I think about leaving I feel like I am going to go crazy. I don't know if I can do it."

Jack climbed into the bed with me, holding me against his chest as I cried. "So what do you want to do?" his voice catching as he spoke.

I lifted my head to look at him and I could see the pain written across his face as he waited. I couldn't think of anything to say, so I sat up and placed a soft kiss on his lips. I felt him let out a shaky breath as he held back tears. "I don't want to do anything right now. I just want you to stay with me." I said as I laid my head back down on his chest.

"I can do that." He said softly, holding me so tightly that I didn't think he would be able to let me go when he needed to.

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In the end, Jack and I decided that we would stop dating when I left to go to Georgia. We both knew that trying to make it work while we were thousands of miles away from each other would only make us hate each other in the end.

The weeks flew by and graduation was finally upon us. After I got my diploma, I watched proudly as Jack walked across the stage to receive his hard earned diploma. Miss Evie made us a celebratory graduation dinner and Jerry and Camille came over with little Daniela to eat with us. The dinner was also a goodbye dinner for me though. I had to be on my way to Georgia the next day and this was the last time I would be seeing everyone for a long time.

After dinner I was sitting on the bed in my now empty room, absentmindedly playing with the locket around my neck. I heard a soft knock and Jack poked his head into the room before slowly walking over to sit on the end tomorrow. "So, tomorrow's the day." He said.

"Yeah, tomorrow's the day." I repeated, trying to ignore the prickling feeling at the back of my throat that always happened before I cried.

"I'm gonna miss you Wills. I'm gonna miss you so much it hurts."

I nodded, afraid to speak. When he looked up at me, I could see the pain in his eyes. "I'm going to miss you so much I think it might crush me Jackie."

He put his arms around me as we lay down on the bed. I reached a hand out and put it on his cheek, looking him in the eye. We stayed that way, holding each other, until we fell asleep.

Goodbyes the next morning were hard. I cried as Miss Evie hugged me and reminded me to call her to let her know I was still alive. I got myself together when Jack hugged me and kissed me one last time. We had said our goodbyes the night before and there was really nothing left to say to each other that the other didn't already know. I got in my car and watched them grow smaller in the rearview mirror as I headed towards my new life in Georgia.

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Jack and I stayed in touch for the first two years I was in school, but after he told me he was finally moving to New York we sort of lost touch. I talked to Miss Evie almost once a week every week that I was away. She would give me updates on the guys, letting me know how they were doing. Even though I sent invitations to all of them, Miss Evie was the only one who showed up when I graduated top of my class.

Six months after I graduated, the week of Thanksgiving, I was packing up my things to get ready to move for my new job that I was going to start in three weeks when my phone rang. I looked down at it to see Jack's name and the picture of me and him that I had never bothered to change. _Why is Jack calling? I haven't talked to him in like a year_. I thought to myself as I fiddled with the locket around my neck. "Hello?"

"Wills, is that you?" Jack sounded upset about something and I had a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach.

"Jack what's wrong? What happened?" I felt like I couldn't breathe as I waited for his answer.

A choked sound came from the other end of the phone and I heard Jack trying to hold back sobs. "It's Ma Wills. She's gone. Someone shot her. She's gone."

I felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room. "No." I whispered.

"The funeral's in two days. Wills, can you make it?"

I took a deep breath as it sank in. My guardian angel was gone. The woman who had kept me safe and had been like a mother to me all those years was gone. "I'll be there Jackie."

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**Pardon me while I cry a little… Ok I'm good now. I hope you guys liked it and prepare yourselves for what is to come. I have big plans and that whole thing I mentioned in the prologue where Willow thinks she is dying will come into play soon! Review at will.**


	11. Chapter 10

**I am writing this chapter while listening to 90's pop radio, the music of my childhood. I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN FOREVER! I have been beyond busy getting ready for school, moving into my house, and doing rush so we can get our newest pledge class. I am basically brain dead right now, so I apologize if this chapter sucks. I'm just trying to get back in the swing of things.**

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I leaned my head against the cold glass as I looked out the window, watching the buildings of Detroit pass by. I couldn't believe that the reason I was back here was to go to the funeral of the woman who had practically saved my life. My phone vibrated in my lap and I looked down to see a text from Jack letting me know his bus had just gotten to the station. We had planned to take buses that would get us to Detroit around the same time so Jerry could pick us up and drive us to Miss Evie's funeral. Sure, I could have flown, but what I discovered the one time I flew to Georgia was that I was actually terrified of flying, so the bus it was.

The bus pulled into the station and I stood up as I heard the brakes strain to stop the giant vehicle. As I walked down the steps I saw Jack sitting on a bench waiting for me. _I'll get my bag in a minute_; I thought as he stood up and crossed the space between us quickly, wrapping his arms around me so tightly I almost couldn't breathe. I buried my face in his chest and inhaled as deeply as I could as I wrapped my arms around him, taking in the smell of his soap and his leather jacket.

We stood in that embrace for a while before he finally pulled back and looked down at me, taking in a shaky breath before he spoke. "Thanks for coming Wills." He ran his hand through his hair and I could see his fingers shaking as he tried to keep it together. "I don't know what I'm gonna do."

I reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as I smiled at him. "We're gonna get through it Jack, together, that's what we're gonna do."

Jack pulled me in for another hug. "I missed you Wills." He whispered softly into my hair.

"You're the one who never called or never visited. I even sent you an invitation to my graduation and you didn't show." I pulled back and lightly punched him on the arm.

"I don't remember you ever coming to New York." He shot back, smiling at me.

"At least I called and texted you for a while. You are the one who was too busy being a super cool rock star to answer my calls or send me a text back. A girl can only take so much rejection before she quits trying." I called over my shoulder as I went to grab my bag.

When I got back to where he was standing he looked down at me with an odd look on his face. "What happened with us Wills? Why did we stop talking?"

"I don't know Jackie." I said, reaching up to put my hand on his cheek. "I guess we just did different things with our lives, but I'm back now. So let's not worry about what went wrong."

Jack nodded his head and reached down to take my hand as we walked to the parking lot to wait for Jerry.

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Jerry finally showed up to get us and we piled into the back of his Volvo. "Long time no see Wills." He said smiling at me with those big teeth of his.

"I know Jer, I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Yeah," he said quietly, "you and me both."

"Is Bobby here yet?" Jack asked, leaning forward.

Jerry shook his head, "Nah man. Last time I talked to him he said he was just going to meet us at the funeral."

Jack nodded his head and leaned back in his seat again. I gave his hand a squeeze as I leaned my head against his shoulder, tucking my feet up under me. I could see Jerry watching us in the rearview mirror and I stuck my tongue out at him. "Look at you two." He said laughing.

"What?" Jack asked, not seeing what the big deal was.

"Nothing, it's just it's like nothing has changed. You two are the same as always. Even if you aren't together you are always stuck to each other like glue. It's been what; four years since you guys have seen each other and you just go right back to how it always was. Jack and Willow against the world." He shook his head as he smiled. "It's just nice to know some things will never change even while everything else is."

I smiled as I snuggled in closer to Jack's side. It really was nice to know that no matter what, me and Jack would always be the same. Nothing could come between us and nothing would ever change us.

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We pulled up to the cemetery just as the hearse containing the casket pulled up. We all nodded solemnly at the men carrying the casket containing the sweetest woman in the world and we followed them up the path to where Miss Evie would be buried. Just before we got there I gave Jack's hand a squeeze and let go, turning to go to my father's grave.

I knelt down on the snow in front of the tombstone and ran my fingers over the letters of my father's name. "Hey Daddy." I whispered softly. "I never thought I would be back here. I never wanted to come back after we buried you, but of course I don't get what I want. We have to bury Miss Evie today Daddy, someone shot her and she's gone. I don't know what I'm going to do." I wiped my hand angrily across my face, wiping away the tears that were now falling. "I don't even know why I'm talking to you. It's not like you ever helped me before and you don't deserve me missing you, but I do miss you Daddy. I miss you, I miss Derek, and I miss Miss Evie."

I closed my eyes and hung my head, ignoring the fact that my tights were now soaked and I was freezing. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Jack looking down at me. "You ok Wills?" He asked softly.

I nodded my head as I wiped away the rest of my tears and let him help me stand up. I shivered a little so he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. We stood like that for a few minutes, enjoying each other's warmth and just happy to be around each other again. After taking a deep breath, I pulled back and slid my fingers between his before we started walking back down the path towards what would be Miss Evie's grave.

Chairs were set up and the casket was now covered in flowers. Jerry was talking to the priest who was supposed to be doing the service and Camille had just walked up with two little girls trailing behind her. More and more people were showing up so Jack and I took our seats in the front row, right in front of Miss Evie's coffin.

I was starting to tear up again when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and I looked up just in time to see Bobby come around the chairs and sit next to me. I let go of Jack's hand briefly to lean over and hug Bobby. "Hey Bobby." I whispered. I could see the priest getting behind the podium to begin the service.

Bobby gave me a faint smile before he turned to look at the priest who had just begun to speak.

After the priest spoke, Jerry went up behind the podium and talked about all that Miss Evie had done for him and the community. After Jerry, Jack went up and gave a heartbreaking speech about how she had changed his life. He couldn't keep it together when he started talking about hiding his toothbrushes and Bobby had to go up and send him back to sit with me. I hugged Jack and placed a kiss on his cheek before wrapping both of my hands around his and holding on tightly as I listened to Bobby.

When Bobby finished he looked down at me. "Now someone who is just as much a part of the family as my brothers is going to come up here. Wills, it's your turn."

I was frozen in my seat for a second before I shook my head at him. He nodded back at me, not taking no for an answer. I took a deep breath before I stood up and headed to the podium. Bobby squeezed my shoulder as I passed him and then I stood behind the podium, facing the crowd of people whose lives Miss Evie had touched. My eyes settled on Jack, who was staring up at me. "Almost six years ago I met Miss Evie and I'm pretty sure she saved my life. Ever since that moment I've always considered her my guardian angel. When things were bad at home, Miss Evie let me stay with her. That happened so much that Miss Evie's house became my home." Tears were flowing freely down my face as I continued. "When my dad died, Miss Evie took me in without hesitation. When I went to college she called me every week to let me know she missed me and that she was proud of me. I don't know who or where I would be without Miss Evie. I owe her so much and I don't know what I'm going to do without her around anymore." I broke down as I finished and held onto the podium for support as Bobby walked up and wrapped an arm around me, leading me back to my seat. I leaned my head on Jack's arm as we all stood and watched the casket be lowered into the ground, saying our final goodbyes to the woman who had changed all of our lives.

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A little later we were all at Jerry's house so we could talk, eat, and remember Miss Evie. I was standing across the street from Jerry's house with Jack while he smoked a cigarette. He was still trying to hold himself together when Bobby walked over. "Hey you guys all right?"

Jack and I both nodded.

"You sure?" he asked, patting Jack on the back while he looked at me. Jack nodded again while Bobby ruffled his hair. "You know I love you man." He walked over and wrapped me in a warm hug. "You too Wills." He gave me a squeeze before putting an arm around Jack. "Come on man, let's go see Jerry."

Jerry was standing in front of his garage talking to a group of older women who had worked with Miss Evie. We all hugged before we headed to the door. Bobby and Jerry were joking about when Bobby burnt down a tree house Jerry had built a long time ago and as we walked to the door Jerry made Jack put out his cigarette.

Bobby, Jack, and I walked out to Jerry's back yard where two little girls were standing with a dog in a dress. I knelt down to pet the dog as Bobby and Jack came up beside me.

Jack stuck out his hand to the bigger of the two girls. "Hey there, you must be Daniela." I looked up in shock that this little girl was the tiny baby I had held so long ago.

Bobby reached out to pet the dog. "And you must be Amelia. Nice dress Amelia."

The smaller girl laughed at him. "_I'm_ Amelia."

"You guys probably don't remember us, but I'm your Uncle Bobby, this is our friend Willow, and this is Cracker Jack."

I laughed at Bobby's old nickname for Jack and Jack gave me a shove. "Don't tell them that man."

Daniela looked at Bobby with a very serious look on her face. "You aren't my uncle, you're white."

I couldn't help but smile when Amelia turned to her sister and said, "Grandma Evie is white."

"Yeah, we're a different kind of uncle. Your grandma, she adopted me and Uncle Jack like she did your daddy."

Amelia got distracted by something and turned, pointing as she said, "You're a police man."

We all turned quickly to see Officer Greene and some other cop walk up. "That's right. Y'all all under arrest so don't nobody move."

We stood up and I brushed off my dress as Greene stopped in front of us. I smiled as Bobby puffed up a little. He had never been a big fan of law enforcement, but Officer Greene had really helped out when my dad died so I didn't have a problem with him. I didn't like the looks of his weasel of a partner though.

"What about me Greene? You gonna arrest me too?" Bobby asked.

"That depends Bobby. You keeping it straight?"

"Straightish." Bobby replied before Greene pulled him in for a hug.

"Sorry about your Ma." Greene said as he gave a hug to Jack.

Greene held me at arm's length when he got to me. "Willow Carter, look at you. All grown up and a college graduate if I'm not mistaken."

"You sure aren't." I said, smiling as he hugged me.

"Thanks for coming Greene, Ma would have been happy you made it to the service." Bobby said.

"Shit, your ma would have been happy you made it back for her funeral." Greene said with a chuckle.

Bobby suddenly got a very serious look on his face and I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach as I moved a little closer to Jack. "I didn't come back for her funeral." Bobby said shaking his head.

Greene and his partner looked at each other. "Thanks for the offer," Greene's weasel of a partner said, "but we've got it under control."

I felt my face get hot when he said that. They did not have it under control. If they had it under control they would have already caught the son of a bitch who shot Miss Evie. "Yeah it really looks like you've got everything under control. The city has completely changed and it's not like little old ladies are getting shot nowadays. Detroit's finest have really cleaned the place up." I shot back, unable to stop myself. I knew my face was red as Jack elbowed me.

Greene laughed a little. "Believe me you guys, we've got these thugs. A kid playing basketball across the street witnessed two gangbangers running around shooting up the place."

"Come on Greene." Bobby said exasperatedly. "I used to make a good living around here cause cops like you guys couldn't find tits in a strip joint. Just come inside, have some coffee, some donuts and get the fuck out of here ok." Bubby turned and walked off and Jack and I followed him laughing quietly.

As we walked into the house I looked up at Jack. "Hey Jackie, has anyone seen Angel yet?"

He shrugged. "Nah he hasn't shown up yet."

_Where the hell is Angel?_ I thought. _I can't believe he would miss his own mother's funeral._

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Jack and I rode over to Miss Evie's house in Jerry's car with Bobby following behind us in his. When we all got out I looked up at the dark house. "Feels good to be home guys." I said with a smile.

"Mmhhmm" Bobby said in agreement.

"So what have you been up to Bobby?" Jack asked as we walked up to the porch.

"Oh I'm a freaking college professor Jack. What do you think I've been doing" Bobby shot back. "What about you? You still sucking cock left and right?"

Everyone laughed but Jack and I squeezed his hand. We all knew Bobby's longest running joke about Jack was that he was gay, despite the fact that Bobby knew Jack and I used to date. He chose to ignore that just so he could keep calling Jack Fairy. Jack and I both knew the truth though and I hoped he wouldn't let Bobby get to him like he sometimes did.

As we got on to the dark porch we heard a voice come from the corner. "Y'all ain't right leaving me out here in the cold like this."

Bobby turned around shouting "Yo little brother you ass hole. You missed our mother's funeral Jarhead."

Jerry joined in. "You should be ashamed of yourself. Get your ass up."

"I haven't seen you in forever." Jack said as he hugged Angel. "Did you get your teeth whitened?" He asked smiling.

"Man, shut up." Angel said as he pushed Jack away and came to give me a hug.

"Angel, what are you doing missing your mom's funeral like that?" I said punching him on the arm.

Angel rubbed his arm where I punched him, acting like it hurt worse than it did. "Come on Wills, give me a break, my flight got delayed. It ain't my fault I missed it."

I pursed my lips and put my hands on my hips. "Excuses excuses." I said as I turned on my heel and followed the other guys into the house.

Once we all got inside we stopped in the foyer, taking in the emptiness of the house now that Miss Evie was gone. Bobby told us where to go and that he would sleep in Miss Evie's room before we all went our separate ways upstairs. I went and put my bags in my old room and sat on my bed looking at everything around me. Everything was exactly how I left it, like Miss Evie was just expecting me to drop by at any moment. She told me there was always a place for me here, but I had always thought she would change my room around or move my stuff once I was gone. Suddenly my chest got tight and I felt like there wasn't enough air in the room so I got up and crossed the hall to Jack's room where he was sitting on his bed playing his guitar.

"Hey Jackie." I whispered as I stood in the doorway.

"Hey Wills." He whispered back as he looked up at me. "Come here." He said patting a spot on the bed next to him.

I crawled into the bed next to him as he continued to pick away at the strings of his guitar. "Still as good as you always were Jack. Maybe even better." I said smiling as I sat cross-legged and put my hands in my lap.

"Maybe even better? Come on Wills, give me a break. I know I'm better." He said with a smile.

While he was talking I thought I noticed something flash in his mouth. "Jack, what is that in your mouth?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Nothing." He said, not moving his mouth much as he spoke this time.

"Jaaack." I poked him in the side.

He stuck his tongue out at me, revealing a stud piercing it. I laughed as I looked at him. "Oh Jack, when did you get that?"

"A little while after I moved to New York." He answered, not making eye contact with me.

"I'm sure that makes you real popular with the ladies. It just adds onto your rock star look."

"I haven't heard any complaints from the ladies. They all seem to like it." He said, finally making eye contact.

I stopped laughing at that. I could feel the jealousy creeping up, but I tried to push it back. I knew I had no right to be jealous. Jack and I had broken up four years ago and it wasn't like I hadn't tried being with other guys since then. Sure it never worked out because none of them were like Jack, but I tried.

Jack and I sat like that, just looking at each other, for a moment before he turned away and started picking at the strings on his guitar again. Bobby walked in a second later and sat on the floor next to Jack's bed. "You gonna cry at me little fairy?"

Jack sighed as he put his guitar to the side and scooted over to make a little more room for me. "Leave it alone man." I rolled my eyes. Of course Jack was going to let Bobby get under his skin.

"You still making a lot of racket on that freakin thing?" Bobby asked, nodding at Jack's guitar.

Jack and I both laughed. "Yeah he's still making a lot of racket aren't you Jackie." I said as Jack started to roll a cigarette. I slapped his hand and gave him a look. I didn't care if Jack smoked really, as long as he didn't do it inside and as long as he didn't do it too close to me because I was allergic to the smoke.

"Is it weird in Ma's room?" Jack asked as he put away the cigarette things.

Bobby leaned his head back on the bed. "Ah man, way too weird. It's crazy, everything's exactly the same, she didn't change nothing in this house. She didn't even change your room Wills."

I shook my head. "Everything is just how I left it."

Jerry showed up in the doorway and laughed at us. "Look at y'all."

"What?" Bobby asked.

"Nothin', I'm just happy to see you man. Happy to see my brothers that's all."

"And what am I? Chopped liver?" I said indignantly. They all laughed at that and I crossed my arms. "I'm serious. What about me? Is no one happy to see me?" I was really only joking, but it had been a while since I had messed with the guys.

Jack put an arm around me and gave me a squeeze as they all laughed and Jerry said, "You too Wills. We all missed your dimply smile. So I guess I stop by the grocery store, grab us a turkey, something, so we can have ourselves a Thanksgiving dinner. Let's at least act like we're a real family. Mom would like that."

We all nodded as Angel walked up to stand next to Jerry. "Where you think you're going?" Jerry asked.

"Man I'm just going outside to get some air." Angel said as Bobby laughed.

"You're full of shit man. You can smell that ass from down the street."

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked, suddenly defensive.

I laughed at Angel. "Come on Angel, you know what we are talking about. You're going to get La Vida Loca aren't you?"

"Ain't nobody going to get no La Vida Loca!" Angel shot back.

"Now Angel, it isn't nice to lie to us." I said sweetly.

"She got a boyfriend man. She got hard dick in her right now, she's screaming someone else's name, and the last thing she's thinking about is your black ass." Bobby said as I leaned my head on Jack's should trying not to laugh uncontrollably. As soon as Jack started laughing I couldn't hold back though and we both laughed obnoxiously as Angel tried to deny it.

"Man I can't even believe y'all comin at me with this crazy talk. I'm standing here telling all of you right now. I'm not going to see that girl." Angel turned and stormed down the stairs leaving all of us laughing behind him.

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Bobby went back to Miss Evie's room after a little while, leaving me and Jack alone in his room. We were laying side by side on his bed, only our hands touching as we stared at the ceiling. "I missed you Wills." Jack said, lacing his fingers through mine.

"I missed you too Jack." I felt my face get hot as he gave my hand a quick squeeze. I didn't know why I was getting so nervous around him. This was Jack. We didn't have boundaries. He was my best friend, or he had been. We used to tell each other everything.

"I don't really know what I would do if you weren't here Wills."

"I wouldn't even dream about being somewhere else right now." I said turning on my side to face him. "I couldn't just leave you guys by yourselves after what happened to your mom. I know you guys need me." I smiled as he turned to face me. "Anyways, I need you guys too. You know I can't get through this stuff on my own. I'm always gonna need you to help me Jackie. It was awful not talking to you for those two years." My voice was thick with tears as Jack put his hand on my cheek.

"It sucked for me too Wills. I don't know why I never called you. I thought about it all the time, but then something else would come up and I would forget. I'm sorry."

"Me too." I whispered through the tears as his hand cupped the back of my head and pulled me closer until my lips met his and the world was right again.

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**Whew, that was a long chapter, but you guys deserved a long chapter after I left you for so long. Just letting you know, classes start back up in three days so it will be harder for me to update quickly, but I will do my best to get you updates as quickly as I can. My writing process is just really slow because I have to play every scene out in my head over and over again like a movie until I get it just right, then I write it down. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always review at will, you know how I love them!**


	12. Chapter 11

I woke up the next morning when Jack was climbing out the bed. "Good morning." I said, smiling and stretching as I let out a yawn.

"Morning." Jack smiled as he tugged on a pair of sweats over his boxers and leaned over to place a kiss on my forehead. "I'm gonna grab some cereal, you want anything?" I shook my head and pulled the blankets up close under my chin. When Jack opened the door the sounds of Bobby, Angel, and a woman yelling at each other drifted up the stairs and into the room. "Looks like Angel brought Sofi back with him last night." Jack said laughing and shaking his head as he walked out and shut the door behind him.

I turned onto my back and stared up at the ceiling smiling. It was good to know that I could count on Jack as a constant in my life. Even if we hadn't spoken in two years, it felt like nothing had changed. I hadn't realized how much I had missed him and everyone else until I came back and everybody fell into their same patterns. Bobby being a protective asshole. Angel obsessing over Sofi and being a jarhead. Jerry being the same old reliable Jerry, big teeth and all. And Jack, Jack always being the one who would look out for me, stick up for me, and be there for me. Being back with the Mercers felt like coming home after a long trip.

Jack came back into the room, a bowl of cereal with two spoons in it in his hand. "That was quick." I said sitting up and leaning against the wall as Jack sat down next to me.

"Angel told me to put some clothes on." He mumbled through a mouthful of cereal.

I laughed as I grabbed my spoon and looked at him. "So were you right about Angel bringing Sofi back?"

Jack nodded, "I passed her on my way down the stairs, and she looked pissed. And Angel already looks like he is tired of Bobby giving him shit about her being here."

I sighed as I leaned my head on his shoulder. "I missed you guys. I didn't realize how much until I heard Bobby, Angel, and Sofi yelling at each other."

"You missed that?"

"Yeah, it's just so normal and everything's just like it used to be. Well almost everything."

Jack wrapped his arm around me and continued to eat his cereal, adjusting the bowl in his lap so he could reach it now that his spoon hand was a little further away. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He turned his head slightly to place a kiss on my hair before he turned back to his cereal.

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Later that day, I was sitting on the couch in the living room with Bobby. Angel and Jerry were in chairs on opposite sides of the room and Jack was in the kitchen cooking the turkey. Angel grabbed some little yellow disks from on top of the record player and I tensed up, knowing what was about to happen. Angel and I made eye contact and he grinned an almost evil looking grin. "Don't do it. Please Angel, don't start that."

Angel tossed one of the disks at me and I ducked just barely getting out of the way. The next one was aimed at Bobby. "Come on man." He said exasperatedly, keeping his eyes on the tv as he put a hand up to block.

Angel laughed as he continued to throw them at us and I picked up a pillow to hide behind. "Angel cut it out. Why do you always do this when we are trying to watch a game?" I poked my head out just in time to get hit in the forehead. I picked up the little disk and threw it back at Angel, giving him the middle finger as soon as it was out of my hand and my head was safely behind the pillow.

"Shut up Wills." He mumbled as he tossed another one at Bobby.

"Quit being aggravating." Jerry said, putting on his best Daddy voice as Angel mocked him and started throwing the disks at him. Jerry ducked as one missed his head. "Man I am watching the game, cut it out."

Angel threw another one at Bobby and as he did so, Bobby and I both threw little disks back at him, mine catching him in the chest and Bobby's hitting his arm. "Nice shot Wills!" Bobby said laughing and giving me a high five.

Angel started throwing even more disks at Jerry, some hitting him in the face. "Try that one more time."

"What you gonna do?" Angel taunted.

"You'll see." Jerry said, eyes still on the tv.

"You gonna bite me with them big ass teeth?" Angel said, biting at the air.

We all started laughing at that, I could even hear Jack's laugh from the kitchen as Bobby said, "You do have some big ass teeth Jerry."

Angel hit Jerry in the head one last time before Jerry stood up, brushing off his shirt before crossing the room and slapping Angel across the back of his head. "Here we go." I said quietly to Bobby as I stood up and quickly walked behind Jerry before the fight started. I sat on the only empty space on the counter, watching Jack fixing casseroles and finishing up the turkey. From the other room I could Bobby narrating what seemed to be an epic battle between Nitro and Midnight. "You need any help with anything?" I asked, leaning forward and putting my hands on my knees.

"Nah I'm almost done. I'm a better cook than you anyways." He said as he leaned over and placed a kiss on my cheek.

"I wouldn't let word of that get out. It could seriously damage your rock star reputation if you say you are a better cook than your girlfriend." I froze. Did I really just call myself his girlfriend? I could feel my face getting hot as I tried to cover up my mistake. "I mean better than a girl, cause you know rock stars aren't supposed to do anything other than make awesome music. They have other people to do their cooking and stuff like that. Rock stars don't cook. I bet they just eat greasy takeout. Is that what you do?" I was rambling and my heart was racing as blood continued to rush to my face. I focused on the color of my jeans as I waited for my heart to stop trying to explode out of my chest.

It was quiet for what seemed like forever and then I felt Jack place his hand under my chin as he tilted my head up so I had to look at him. He was smiling and that really didn't help stop the samba that my heart was now beating out. "Rock stars are allowed to do all kinds of stuff. Including cook better than their girlfriends."

I felt a smile start creeping across my face as Jack placed a quick kiss on my lips. I put my arms around his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer to me. "So it's girlfriend now?" I asked before giving him another kiss.

"You're the one who said it first." He said, still smiling down at me.

Just as he was about to kiss me again, Bobby called out from the other room. "Hey Jackie! When are you going to be done in there? We're getting hungry and we can't wait much longer for you to finish working your fairy magic on the food."

Jack rolled his eyes and clenched his jaw in frustration at the fairy comment. "Don't listen to him." I said quietly, "You know he only does it because he knows he can get a rise out of you." I gave him one last quick kiss before I slid off the counter. "Now hurry up on that food." I said, slapping him on the ass as I walked past him and back into the living room with the other guys.

0000000

Jack finally finished putting the finishing touches on the turkey and Bobby called us all into the dining room as I put a record on the record player. Once the music started playing I went into the dining room where the guys were all standing, waiting for me so we could say grace. I went to my usual seat, beside Angel and across from Jack, and grabbed their hands. We all bowed out heads as Bobby said grace and after we all said amen everyone sat down. All of us were painfully aware of the empty chair at the head of the table and I could see each of the guys take a moment and look at it before turning back to their food. I looked up from my casserole to see Jack staring at Miss Evie's empty seat, eyes wide with fear and sadness. I nudged his foot with mine to get his attention and when he slowly turned his head to look at me I smiled at him and winked, only going back to my food once he smiled back at me.

"Willow." I swear I heard Miss Evie's voice saying my name and I turned my head to see her sitting there in her chair, wearing the same thing she was wearing the first night I saw her. "You look out for my boys Willow. They need you and you need them." I nodded my head just the tiniest bit. "You and Jackie take care of each other sweetie, just like you always do." I nodded again.

I was startled out of my trance by the sound of Bobby standing up saying, "To hell with this. Let's go get a pickup game. I wanna see some quick sticks and some tight passing."

Angel complained about it being too cold, but I was already out of my seat and going to the kitchen to put my plate up. Hockey was just what I needed right now. I needed to hit something, to take out my frustration on something else. Sure I was probably going to suck since I hadn't played since I left for college, but knocking guys who were underestimating me on their asses was just what the doctor ordered.

0000000

After giving a group of poor, unsuspecting guys a thorough ass whooping at the rink, we headed into town to meet with Miss Evie's lawyer. We all sat at a long table as the white haired man gathered some papers. "I am truly sorry about your mother." He said as he sat down. "Although I only met Evelyn the one time, she made quite the impression. I know it's difficult to deal with mundane financial matters when your heart still grieves for a loved one."

Jack looked up from the papers he had been flipping through. "How much do we get?" I stared at him open-mouthed as Bobby slapped him across the back of the head.

"Really?" I questioned as I elbowed him in the ribs, glaring at him out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't believe he would ask a question like that.

Jack raised his eyebrows and shrugged, clearly not seeing the problem with asking a question like that. The lawyer looked around uncomfortably for a moment before he stood up. "Uhh, excuse me." He walked over to his desk and grabbed what looked like a safety deposit box off of the edge of it, bringing it back to the table with him. "This is the contents of your mother's safety deposit box. I'll leave you here to look through it." After he set the box down in front of Bobby, he turned and left the room.

Bobby opened the box and started looking at the papers inside of it. He passed an envelope to Jack and one to Jerry, "Birth certificates." He said quietly as he turned his attention back to the box. Jerry and Jack talked about what their birth certificates revealed as Bobby pulled out a little drawstring bag from the box and passed it to me. "Ma would want you to have this Wills."

I could hear Angel asking Bobby if there were any papers on him in there as I opened the bag and found inside of it a silver bracelet that I had seen Miss Evie wear one Christmas. It was a really simple bracelet, just braided silver with a small silver cross dangling from it. I elbowed Jack and held out the bracelet, nodding at my wrist as I did so, and he helped me put it on. After the clasp was closed I wound my fingers through Jack's and we held hands under the table as Bobby finished going through the box.

"Here we go." I heard Bobby say as I looked over to see him standing up with a wad of cash in his hands. We all stood up quickly, but Jack was the quickest of us all. Bobby counted the money and then divided it up between himself, Angel, Jerry, and me.

Jack held out his hand, waiting for Bobby to give him some money, "What about me?"

"Here," Bobby said, handing Jack a necklace from the box, "that'll look good on you."

Jack looked back and forth between his brothers, tossing the necklace in his hand. "Fuck you."

"Quit crying." Jerry said, slinging his jacket over his shoulder. "Come on, I've got something to show you."

I hung back with Jack, grabbing him by the sleeve when he tried to walk off. "Here." I said quietly, handing him the little stack of bills Bobby had handed me.

Jack looked at the money in his hand and back up at me before he counted it, split it in half, and handed me the other half. "Ma would've wanted you to have some too. Your family Wills." He said as he slung his arm across my shoulders and I wrapped my arm around his waist as we followed his brothers out the door.

0000000

We walked up to an abandoned looking warehouse building as Jerry threw his arms out, "Here it is!" He exclaimed proudly.

"So this is you dream Jerry?" Jack asked as we walked down the dark, dirty corridor to get to the door. "There's a lot of space in what are you going to do, build some automobiles?"

"No, luxury lofts. Urban sophistication is what I'm talking about."

"Oh so now you're doing real estate?" Angel asked as Jerry continued to explain.

"This whole first floor here is gonna be lavish offices and store fronts. I'm gonna put stained glass windows here." I smiled as I listened to Jerry talk about his plans. Jerry always did dream big and once he had his sights set on something he went for it.

As we walked up some stairs to see the rest of the building Jack was fidgeting. "What's wrong?" I asked looking up at him.

He clenched his jaw, looking straight ahead. "I've gotta take a piss." He said through gritted teeth.

"Why didn't you go while we were at the lawyer's office?"

He looked down at me, "Because Wills, I didn't have to take a leak then, but now I do." He said as we walked into a large open room full of shelves and other junk.

Jack let go of my hand and I walked over to stand with the other guys. Bobby handed me a beer while him and Jerry argued about whether or not Jerry should just let Bobby burn the building down so he could start from scratch. I could hear something that sounded like trickling water coming from behind me and I looked over my shoulder to find Jack peeing in a corner while he took a swig of his beer. "Jack! What are you doing?"

"Wills I told you I had to piss."

"Come on man." Jerry said exasperatedly as he realized what his little brother was doing.

"Oh I'm sorry. Is this the master suite? Am I making the property value go down?" Jack asked laughing.

I walked over to him and punched him on the arm. "Real classy Jackie." I said as I walked with him over to where Jerry and Bobby were talking about how Jer was going to pay for everything and Angel was laughing at something that only he had noticed. "What's so funny Angel?" I asked when he turned around.

"They look like nipples." He said, pointing at the things sitting on shelves behind him.

We all shook our heads and headed for the door as Bobby took a final sip from his beer. "Let's go get a real drink."


	13. Chapter 12

**Ok so just so you guys know I'm going to be updating pretty much every weekend if possible. So expect an update anytime between Friday and Sunday every week. Also, did you notice the new cover for the story? I figured since I was actually going to finish this one it should have a cover. I worked pretty hard on it and even though it isn't the prettiest thing in the world I'm a fan of it. Ok so here is the next chapter!**

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"Your attention please! I wanna make a toast, to Evelyn Mercer, the greatest mother four degenerate bastards ever had!" Bobby said as the five of us sat at the bar in one of the local places, clinking our shot glasses together.

After I took my shot I scrunched my face up, feeling the burn of the whiskey as it slid down my throat and set up a little campfire in my stomach. My face got warm from the alcohol working its way into my system and I slid my shot glass forward, ready for the next round. "Johnny, another round for me and the boys." I said looking up at the bald bartender. He was the same guy who got Jack's band the gig all those years ago.

"Just four Johnny and a glass of milk for the fairy." Bobby corrected, sliding his shot glass forward to sit next to mine.

Jack sighed, "Man I will drink you under the table."

"We're not talking about sperm Jackie, this is whiskey."

I giggled as I picked up my shot glass and walked over to an empty table, holding onto Jack's hand with the one that wasn't holding my shot and dragging him behind me. The rest of the guys followed behind us.

Four shots and two beers later I was definitely feeling it. My face was hot because of the alcohol coursing through my veins, but I was still doing better than Jack who had decided that now was a perfect time to work on some original songs. "Jack drinks Jack, Jack drinks Jack." He sang into his glass as he tipped it back and poured the whiskey down his throat.

"Jack likes ass crack and ball sack." Bobby shot back at him.

I laughed into my glass as Jack tried to defend himself. "Jack doesn't like ass crack and ball sack. Jack likes boobs. Jack gots fans. Jack gots lots of fans." Jack slung his arm around my shoulder, sneakily trying to cop a feel while he did so.

I slapped his hand and glared at him while the other guys laughed. "If you have so many fans why don't you go play with their boobs. Mine are off limits right now sugar."

Jack took his arm off my shoulder and raised his hands in surrender while Angel glared at him. "Maybe that will shut you up."

Johnny came over to our table and stood at the end. "That's messed up about your mom fellas. Freakin' gangs. Worms, someone oughta step on 'em."

I could see Bobby get that look in his eye as he leaned back in his chair and asked, "Which gangs Johnny?"

I put my head in my hands, knowing that we were about to start raising hell and I was too drunk for taking care of business tonight. Jack rubbed my back and gave the back of my neck a squeeze as I heard Jerry speak up. "Ahh shit. Here we go. I knew it."

"I think I heard something. The neighborhood's really upset about this." Johnny said.

"Same old Bobby. Ma always said as bright as Bobby is he just does not like to think. Ain't no good gonna come from this. Let the police to their damn job." Jerry reasoned.

"Stop with the police man." Jack said taking another sip of his drink. I nodded in agreement. Letting the police do their job was good in theory, but all of us knew that nothing would actually come from the investigation that the police were running now. The guys who did this would get away with it and no one would answer for Miss Evie's death. Sure I didn't want to start anything tonight, but that didn't mean I didn't want to find who killed Miss Evie and make them pay just as much as Bobby did.

"Half the cops in this town are crooked and you think the other half give two shits about a liquor store hold up?" Bobby asked Jerry as I took a drink, nodding my head.

Jerry set his glass down on the table, "I'm telling you man, Greene's on our side on this one. Come on man."

Angel, who had been quiet this whole time, finally spoke up. "She's the only woman that ever gave a damn man. The least we can do is go bang on a few doors and see what happened. We owe her that much."

"We owe her more than that." I said quietly into my glass.

"Why are you being such a bitch Jerry?" Bobby asked, managing to keep the anger out of his voice, but letting a hint of frustration seep through.

Jerry looked at the glass in his hand for a second, as if asking for the strength to deal with his brothers. "So what? Y'all just gonna shoot up the whole town cause y'all mad?"

"Why not?"

"Come on man. The people who did this, they probably from the same shitty ass streets we from. Mom would have been the first to forgive them and y'all know that." Jerry tried to reason.

"We may be from the same shitty ass streets as we are from Jer, but you don't see me or Jack out there holding up liquor stores and killing innocent old ladies. Just cause you come from something bad doesn't mean you have to do bad things." I said as I stared him down. Having a bad background was no excuse to kill an innocent person and Jerry knew that. What was going on with him?

"Wills has a point Jer. And we can't all be saints like ma." Bobby said taking a swig from his glass.

"Yeah we can't all be saints Jerry." Jack parroted.

Jerry put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, cool. Don't call me when y'all get shot up cause it's Detroit in case y'all forgot."

Once Jerry was out of sight, we all turned to focus on Johnny. Angel was the one who spoke up. "Johnny, tell us what's going on man."

Johnny sat in Jerry's now empty seat, "You wanna know what I heard?"

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We were standing outside of an old warehouse that kids always used for parties. It was pretty much passed down through the generations. Even Bobby had gone to parties there when he was in high school.

Johnny had told us that that was where we would find some kids who would know who saw what went down from the basketball court that night so as soon as he was done telling us we paid our tab and headed over.

Bobby opened his trunk and asked Angel if he had a gun. While Angel explained why he didn't have one, I reached down into the bottom of my purse and pulled out the hand gun that I had bought when I moved into an apartment by myself in Athens. He turned to me to hand me a crowbar and I waved the gun in the air to show him I didn't need his dinky crow bar. "Damn Wills, when did you get that sweet little thing?"

"Do you really think I was going to be ok with living alone during school if I didn't have a gun Bobby?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Do you know how to shoot it?"

I rolled my eyes, "Of course I know how to shoot it Bobby. A guy I dated in college took me out hunting with him a couple times and if I can shoot a rifle I can shoot this. I'm a great shot by the way." I said with a smirk. "I hit every duck I shot at and people are a lot bigger than ducks so I think I'm good."

"Well excuse me." Bobby said with a smile and he shoved the crowbar into Jack's hands. He pulled a gas can out of the trunk next and passed it to Jack. "Here take the gas can too."

"We gonna do that gas thing?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, we're gonna do the gas thing." Bobby said, mocking Jack. "The only thing that scares people more than getting burnt to death is people getting eaten alive." Bobby pulled a shotgun out of the back and after he inspected it, he closed the trunk. "Let's go."

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We were standing outside of the basketball courts that were by the liquor store. Angel was holding onto some wannabe thug while Bobby paced back and forth, looking at his watch. My heart was pounding in my chest and I hoped for this kid's sake the lights shut off when he said they did. I didn't know what Bobby would do if they didn't, but I knew it wouldn't be anything good.

Bobby looked at his watch one last time, "It's 10:02 and this fucking lights are still on."

I looked around nervously and walked over to the kid who was looking at Angel while he whispered something in his ear. I grabbed the front of the kid's jacket and looked him in the eye. "If you know who did this you better speak up now kid. I won't be able to protect you from them if you are lying and to be honest I probably won't want to protect you if you are lying, so tell us the truth." I hissed through my gritted teeth.

"I don't know nothing." The kid said.

I could hear the fear in his voice as I let go of the front of his jacket and walked over to Jack, wrapping my arms around myself to keep the cold out. "This isn't going to be good." I said under my breath as I stood next to Jack.

Bobby turned around, "This is bullshit. Let's pop this mother fucker right now."

I grabbed Jack's arm and looked up at him. "Jack don't let him do this." I had a feeling the kid wasn't lying and if Bobby killed an innocent kid he was no better than the people who killed his mom.

Jack stepped forward, trying to block Bobby. "Come on man take it easy."

Bobby pushed him out of the way. "Shut up Jack." He grabbed the kid's sleeve and started pulling him away from us. "Come on." He said gruffly.

I could hear the kid pleading, trying desperately to convince Bobby and Angel that the lights would shut off, as I walked alongside Jack behind his brothers. I closed my eyes, wanting to block it out, and as I did so I heard a clicking sound behind me and I turned around quickly to see the lights were out. I grabbed Jack's arm to stop him, pointing with my free hand.

The kid must have noticed the lights go off at the same time as I did because I heard him plead one last time before I heard Bobby say, "You're fucking lucky." As he brushed past me.

The little bastard was cocky now that his life wasn't in danger and he started running his mouth. Angel got fed up with him and punched him, "Why don't you shut the fuck up. You talk too much."

I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned and leaned my head on Jack's chest. I wanted to find who killed Miss Evie just as much as the guys did, but I wasn't ready to start killing kids just to do that. Jack put his arms around me and placed a kiss on the top of my head. "It's ok Wills." He said softly, his lips still pressed against my hair. He let go of me and reached down to grab my hand. "Come on." He said as we walked off after his brothers.

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Sofi let us in when we got back to the house and I gave Jack's hand a squeeze before I let go and headed up the stairs, catching Bobby explaining to Jack what a questionable kill was. I went into my room, changed into a pair of Jack's sweat pants that I had stolen from his room earlier, and sat on my bed with my back against the wall. We had been so close to killing a kid. I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath. It just blew my mind how close it got to that. How did I let it get that far?

I heard Angel and Sofi run past my door and then right after that I heard a soft knock and I opened my eyes to see Jack leaning against the door frame. "Can I come in?" I nodded my head and he came as sat on my bed next to me. "You ok Wills?" He asked, concern showing plainly in his eyes.

I nodded, "I just can't believe how close we came to actually killing that kid. Yeah he was stupid and wouldn't stop running his mouth, but if Bobby hadn't waited those two extra minutes an innocent kid would be dead right now and we would be no better than the guys who killed your mom." My voice shook a little and I put my head in my hands. All that I had had to drink was catching up to me and my head had started pounding.

Jack put his arms around me. "Come here Wills." He said softly as he pulled me into his lap and wrapped me up in a hug. "It's ok. Bobby didn't kill that kid. We are going to find out what happened tomorrow and we are going to find the guys who actually did this and we are going to make them pay. I won't let anybody who isn't responsible for what happened to Ma get hurt, I promise."

"You know when it really comes down to it; we won't be able to stop Bobby." I said looking up at him.

"Yeah, I know, but when it really comes down to it, Bobby will only kill someone who really deserves it." He said as he pushed my bangs out of my face. "It's gonna be ok Wills, don't worry about it."

Jack smiled down at me and of course I had to smile back, I could never not smile back at him. I shifted so that I was straddling him and I looked him in the eye as I put a hand on his cheek. We sat like that for a minute, just looking at each other, before I spoke. "How did I go two years without talking to you?"

He shook his head. "I don't know Wills, but let's not do that again ok?" He leaned forward and kissed me softly. Then, with his forehead resting against mine, he said, "You're my best friend Wills, you're everything, and I'm not going to be an idiot and lose you again."

"Well I'm not planning on going anywhere so you don't have anything to worry about." I said as I moved my head slightly so I could kiss him.

"I love you Wills." He murmured against my lips.

I pulled back so I could look at him. "I love you too Jackie. I never stopped."

"What about that guy in college who took you hunting. Redneck wasn't the one for you?" He asked smiling.

"Oh did I say I never stopped? I meant you were my back up because he didn't ask me to marry him."

"Oh that hurts." Jack said putting his hand over his heart.

I kissed him again, smiling against his mouth. "Well that's what you get for bringing him up."

"Now we have to deal with the same thing we had to deal with senior year." Jack said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"We are going to have to figure out what to do when you go back to Georgia and I go back to New York."

I smiled, realizing that I knew something Jack didn't know. "Jack." He wouldn't look me in the eye so I grabbed his chin and forced him to look at me. "Jack, I'm not going back to Georgia."

His eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What do you mean you aren't going back to Georgia?"

"With everything that has been going on I didn't get to tell you guys about the job that I got." I paused, making him suffer just a little bit longer, and my smile grew even wider. "I got offered a job at the Bronx Zoo to work with their conservation and education programs. I was packing to move to New York when you called me about your mom."

Jack's eyes grew wide as what I told him started to sink in. "You're moving to New York?" He asked slowly. After I nodded my head, grinning from ear to ear, he tightened his arms around me, crushing me against his chest as he covered my mouth with his.

I pulled back for air, laughing as I looked at the happy grin that was on his face. "So see, there's no problem. We will both be in New York."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because, I didn't know where this was going," I said gesturing between us indicating that the _this_ I was talking about was us, "and with all the stuff going on with your mom and trying to figure out what happened it just didn't feel like the right time."

Jack nodded, understanding why I hadn't told him sooner. "Do you have a place to live yet?"

I shook my head, "The zoo was going to cover a week of hotel costs while I found a place since they asked me to get there so quickly, but that went down the drain when I told them I had a family emergency and couldn't make it to the city right away."

"Well now you have a place to stay." Jack said smiling.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll stay with me. One of the guys just moved out so we need another person to help with rent, I live 20 minutes away from the Bronx Zoo, and I don't want you living by yourself in the city when you could be with me."

"Really?" I asked. He nodded and it was my turn to give him a crushing hug. "Ok!" I said pressing my lips to his.

"Ok?" He asked making sure he had heard me right.

I nodded my head, smiling happily. "Yeah, I'll live with you."

Jack crushed his lips against mine and turned us so that I was lying on my back with him on top of me. He looked down at me, smiling, "God Wills, I love you so much."

"I love you too Jackie, always have, always will."

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**I hope you guys liked the ending, I know it was kind of sappy, but with all the intense and sad stuff going on I figured we needed some cheese. As always, review at will because it helps me write!**


	14. Chapter 13

**I am so sorry that I am so horrible and that it takes me a million and two years to update. I have been swamped with school. Chem 2 and Calculus are not a walk in the park. Here's the next chapter though and I will do my very best to update again next weekend, but I can't guarantee it since I am going home to visit next weekend. I hope you like it!**

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I woke up the next morning with Jack asleep on my arm. "Jack." I whispered as I shook him with my hand that wasn't trapped under his body. "Jack wake up we have to go." I pushed him even harder and he mumbled something, pushing my hand away while keeping his eyes closed. "Bobby said we were going to the liquor store to find out what happened and we have to get there early."

"Fuck Bobby." He murmured as he pushed my hand away again.

I pursed my lips as I tried one last time to pull my arm out from underneath him. "Fine if that's how you are going to be." I said under my breath as I took a deep breath and pushed on Jack's shoulder as hard as I could while I kicked at his legs with my feet. This caused him to slowly slid closer to the edge of the bed and as this happened I lifted my trapped arm slightly, turning him on his side and pushing him over the edge of the bed.

As soon as he hit the ground with a loud thud he sat straight up and looked around the room bewilderedly. "The fuck Wills?" He said once his eyes settled on me.

I was sitting with my knees drawn up to my chest laughing. Once I caught my breath I looked at him seriously. "I told you to get up Jack. We have important things to do today."

He ran his hand through his hair before stretching his arms above his head. He turned to look at me. "I'm going to get you for this later." He narrowed his eyes at me while he stood up and walked over to the dresser.

"Oh I'm sure you will." I got up off of the bed and crossed over to where he was standing. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head against his back, closing my eyes.

I felt Jack turn around in my arms so that he was facing me and I looked up at him. "What is it Wills?" He asked brushing my hair out of my face.

"It's nothing." I said quietly.

"Wills." Jack said, knowing that it wasn't nothing.

"It's just, you know I want to know what happened to your mom and I want to make whoever's responsible for it pay." I felt the anger well up inside of me. "But I'm just worried about what it is going to cost to find out what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"I just have a bad feeling Jackie. I'm just worried about what we might find out and I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"Nothing is going to happen Wills and the only people who are going to get hurt are the people who killed Ma. Don't worry so much babe." Jack said softly as he leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a squeeze before he put his hands on my shoulders and turned me around, pushing me gently towards the door. "Go get ready. I don't want us to be late since I had to fall out of bed."

I looked over my shoulder as I walked out the door and stuck my tongue out at him as he leaned back on his dresser smiling at me.

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We were all leaning against Bobby's car outside the liquor store, waiting for someone to show up to open the store so we could ask some questions. Jerry pulled up in the Volvo and came over to us. "All right I'm here."

I rubbed my hands up and down on my arms, trying to warm up, as Angel told Jerry what we found out last night. Jack came up behind me and put his arms around me and I leaned back against him, welcoming the warmth I felt coming off of his body. The man opening up the store walked up just then and we all turned and walked over to him, Jack holding my hand inside of his pocket. "Can I help you?" the older man asked quietly.

Jack spoke up. "Yeah, if we could just have a moment of your time sir, Evelyn Mercer was our mother." I gave Jack's hand a squeeze as I smiled at the man.

"She was a nice lady, I liked her very much." The man said sadly, "Come, let's go inside."

While Bobby asked the man if we could see the security tape of that night I turned to Jack. "You gonna be ok Jackie?" I asked quietly.

Jack gulped and took a deep breath. "I'm gonna have to be. We have to figure out what happened to Ma and this is the only place to start." He reached down and brushed some hair out of my face. "Are you gonna be ok seeing this Wills? You don't have to watch if you don't want to."

"I want to catch these bastards just as much as you guys do and I won't be much help to you guys if I go hide in the corner every time something upsets me. I'll watch the video."

Jack nodded solemnly and grabbed my hand as we walked together to the counter where the little tv was now displaying a black and white video of the night the sweetest woman on earth was taken from us.

I held on tightly to Jack's hand as the video played and I felt him start to fidget beside me. I could tell he didn't want to be watching what was happening on the screen, but, just like me, he knew that even if he didn't want to see it, he had to watch it. I sucked in a short breath of air as I watched the gunmen shoot the man behind the counter and I couldn't take my eyes off of Miss Evie as I watched her cower behind one of the racks on an aisle. I could see the men coming towards her and I wanted to warn her, I wanted to tell her to run, to get out of there, but I knew I couldn't and I knew that there was no way to change what happened that night.

"This doesn't add up." I heard Bobby say as we all watched Miss Evie cower in front of the men before her. "He's already got the money." I felt Jack shaking beside me and I tightened my grip on his hand the best I could with my shaking fingers.

When we saw the gun fire and Miss Evie fall, Jack pulled his hand out of mine and turned away, letting out a shaky breath as he put his hands to his eyes like he was trying to get the image out of his mind. I stood still, unable to take my eyes off of the screen as I stared at Miss Evie's fallen body on the cold tile of the corner store. I felt like my insides were shaking. I felt like I was going to explode. There was no way that was just a simple robbery. Those men went there to kill Miss Evie. Every feeling of fear or doubt or worry that I had had over the past day about what would happen while we looked for answers vanished as I stared at the woman who had saved my life lying dead on the floor. I didn't care what it took, we would find those men and we would make them and whoever sent them there pay for what they had done.

"Supposedly there was a witness who told the police this was a gang shooting. You know anything about that?" I heard Bobby ask as I turned and walked to where Jack was pacing in the back of the store.

I put my hand on his shoulder and I felt him jump just a little. "It's ok Jack, it's me."

He spun around quickly and wrapped me up in a crushing hug. "We have to get these guys Wills." He said quietly as he rested his chin on top of my head.

I pulled back and put my hands on either side of his face. "Jack, we will get these guys. We will make them pay. I'll make sure we do if it's the last thing I do."

"Don't say that Wills." He said softly.

"Don't say what."

"If it's the last thing you do. It won't be the last thing you do. It won't even be close to the last thing you do because after we get these guys you are going to do so many more things. _We _are going to do so many more things. I already lost Ma, I'm not losing you to this." He kissed me softly as he brought his hand up to cup the back of my head.

"Ok Jackie, I won't let it be the last thing I do." I said quietly after the kiss ended.

"You better not." He said, kissing my nose gently.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the other guys turn around and start heading towards the exit so I took myself out of Jack's arms and turned to go with them.

Bobby practically burst through the door as we all sped up to keep up with him. "That wasn't no gang shooting, that was an execution. They set mom up. They set her up!" Bobby picked up the pace and before I knew it, we were all running towards the gym where the basketball courts were.

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There was a game going on when we walked through the doors and we all lined up on the sidelines. "What's the plan Bobby?" Jerry asked.

"We're winging it Jerry." Bobby said as he scanned the courts.

I rolled my eyes. "Bobby we always wing it." I said a little nervously.

From right behind me I heard Jack say, "We're gonna get killed."

I elbowed him. "What you mean _we_ white boy?" Angel said just before looking at Bobby.

"You ready?" Bobby asked Angel before heading out into the middle of the court.

I put my hands over my face and watched what happened next through my fingers. "Here we go." Jack said as he moved up to stand beside me.

Everyone was booing as Bobby stood in the middle of the court and tried to get their attention. He grabbed the ball from the ref and started taunting everyone. "Damnit Bobby, come on." I said under my breath. One of the players tried to stop him and Bobby took him to the ground. I winced when I saw him fall and then all hell broke loose when Bobby pulled a gun on the players trying to take him off of the court. "Shit, we are going to get killed."

Jack put his hand on the back of my neck and squeezed lightly. "Bobby's got this Wills. Don't worry."

We were watching the stands as Bobby spoke to the crowd, letting them know why we were there and who we were looking for. I noticed a kid grab his bag and head for the doors and I grabbed Jack's sleeve and pointed. Jack nodded and pushed me lightly towards the doors behind us while he followed behind. I saw the kid push against a pair of locked doors. "Where are you going sugar?" I said sweetly as I crossed my arms and walked slowly towards him. Just then Jack came through the doors and I heard the kid curse under his breath as he turned and ran. "Hey kid!" I yelled as Jack and I both took off running after him.

"No running in the halls!" I heard Jack say from behind me.

I reached out and grabbed the back of the kid's jacket and pulled him backwards just as he hit the doors in front of him. Jack ran up behind me and grabbed on to the kid to since he was struggling so much and Angel slowly walked through the doors towards the kid with a pissed off look on his face. "I don't know nothing." The kid yelled.

"You got something to tell me youngster?" Angel asked, glaring at the kid.

Jack looked down at me, "Babe, go get Bobby, let him know we've got the kid."

I nodded and turned quickly, running towards the doors I had come from. Bobby was still yelling at the people in the stands, but I waved my arms and got Jerry's attention. I pointed behind me to let him know we got him and then I turned and ran back. "They're coming." I said as I stopped next to Jack.

We had the kid resting against a wall when Bobby walked up. "What've we got here?" he asked.

"Bobby meet Keenan. Keenan this is Bobby." Angel said leaning against the wall next to the kid. "Something tells me he was on his way to deliver a warning." Angel never took his eyes off Keenan. He was like a predator stalking his prey. I caught myself wishing that I could be that intimidating someday. It might come in handy.

"What's his name Keenan?" Bobby asked calmly.

Keenan hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "Damien. He's my brother."

"He's your brother?" Bobby asked with a raise of his eyebrows. "No shit, these are my brothers."

"And once again I'm chopped liver." I said under my breath jokingly as Jack slung his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to his side.

"Naw man, he's my real brother." Keenan said.

"Yeah man these are my real brothers. This is Angel, I'm Bobby, this is Jack, and Jeremiah."

"Willow." I said with a smile and a wave. "Not officially a Mercer."

"Sure you are Wills." Jack said giving my shoulder a squeeze.

"So what's the deal with Damien? You guys still close? Does he live at home with you?" Bobby hit the kid with question after question.

"Yeah, but I ain't tellin you shit else." Keenan said with a determined look on his face.

"I wouldn't sell out my brothers either." Angel said, still watching Keenan like a hawk, while Bobby took the kid's book bag off of his shoulder.

He handed me the bag and I dug through it, looking for something we could use while Bobby continued trying to get some information out of Keenan. Then I saw it, "Jackpot." I whispered as I pulled out a report card with an address on it. "Got something Bobby. He lives just right down the road."

Bobby patted Keenan on the shoulder and Jack took the report card out of my hands. "These are some nice grades, better stay in school." He advised while Jerry looked at the necklace the kid had on.

"What is that, aluminum?" Jerry asked with a hint of disgust as he held the necklace in his hand.

"Shit doesn't even spin." Jack said with a smile as they turned to walk away.

"Good try sweetheart," I said patting him on the shoulder. "Next time just get the real thing so you don't look like a fool." I lightly slapped his cheek before walking after the guys.

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We were sitting in Bobby's car outside of the apartment complex where Keenan and his brother lived. Jack, Jerry, and I were all crammed in the backseat, but thankfully I was next to the window. "I don't get it. Why would somebody hire a god damned killer to shoot mom." Jerry said quietly.

"Here's an idea, we wait for the shithead to get back and we ask him." Bobby said, turning slightly to look over his shoulder at Jerry.

"Y'all do what y'all gotta do, I've got gymnastics. Come on let me out."

We all started laughing and poor Jer was in for it now. "You got your leotard on Jerry." Bobby asked .

"Go to hell man, y'all know what I'm talking about." Jerry said trying to defend himself. "I've got a schedule to keep. Girls got gymnastics, I've gotta take them. Come on, let me out man." Jerry hit the back of Bobby's seat.

"You wanna take Cracker Jack with you? He's very flexible. Or you could take Wills. She is tiny like those scary gymnasts in the Olympics." Bobby said as he leaned his seat forward to let Jerry out.

"Bobby you're the one who took ballet." Jack shot back.

I snorted. "You took ballet Bobby?"

"The two of you just shut up." Bobby said in a huff which only made me laugh harder.

I was drawing pictures in the steam my breath made on the window while Jack held my hand and traced the outline of my fingers. He was leaning against me, singing some song. I turned and quickly kissed him on the cheek and smiled at him when he looked at me before I went back to my masterpiece on the window.

Bobby started talking to Angel about how he could stand being in the Marines and I wiped my artwork off of the window to start something new when I saw someone walking. "Hey, that's him." I said squinting and pointing through the window. "Jack it's him!" I shook his arm and we all climbed out of the car and started chasing after him.

Damien was stopped at the elevator when we reached him. "Damien!" I yelled trying to get his attention.

He turned to look at us and that is the moment where Bobby screwed up and pulled out his gun. "You Damien?" He yelled.

A look of fear passed across Damien's face as he dove into the elevator. "We just want to talk!" I yelled after him. "Nice going with the gun Bobby." I growled as I ran with them to the elevator.

"You two stay here and tell me where this stops." Bobby said to us before he and Angel ran towards the stairwell.

I stood at the door to the stairwell, watching them run up as Jack watched the different numbers light up. "Six Wills! He stopped at six!"

"Bobby he stopped at six!" I yelled up the stairs before turning back to look at Jack. "Come on let's go." I said motioning for him to hurry up. I started jogging up the stairs while Jack followed behind me at a leisurely pace. I heard gunshots and I sped up, catching up to Angel and going through the door to the sixth floor to find Bobby basically being mauled by two Rotties.

"These dogs are trying to eat me, get them off me." Bobby pleaded.

I put my fingers to my lips and let out a high pitched, ear piercing whistle. The two dogs looked up from Bobby and started making their way towards me. I put my arms out, trying to make myself look bigger. I could hear the dogs growling as Angel came up behind me. "Hush!" I said in the scariest voice I could manage. "Sit!" I commanded them. To my amazement, both of the dogs sat. I hadn't really expected it to work. Angel went past me to Bobby and they went into the apartment Damien went into. I stayed in the hallway with the dogs; arms still out, walking towards them slowly. "Good Cujo, nice puppies." I said quietly.

My head shot up when I heard more gunshots and the dogs turned and ran away. I hurried towards the door just in time to see Bobby and Angel heading back out towards me. "What happened?" I asked.

"Damien had a little fall." Was all Bobby said.

When we got to the door to the stairwell, Jack opened it with a surprised look on his face. Bobby and Angel brushed past him and I narrowed my eyes. "Have a nice stroll up the stairs Jack?" I asked, a little frustrated that he hadn't gotten there sooner.

"I figured you guys had it under control." He said as I shoved him out of the way and followed Bobby and Angel down the stairs.

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I could see Damien lying in the snow as we walked up to him and I could tell he wasn't doing very well after that fall. "Man you must be freezing!" Jack yelled to him as we got closer.

I could thought I could see some bone sticking out of his leg from where we were and I almost felt bad for the guy until I remembered that he was the one who covered for the men who killed Miss Evie. "You know why we're here Damien?" Bobby asked.

"Come on man call me an ambulance." Damien pleaded through teeth that were clenched against the pain from his leg.

"An ambulance? What for my dog bites? Nah, I'll be ok." Bobby joked. "You give me a name I'll call 9-1-1. I wanna know who shot up that liquor store now!"

"Man I didn't shoot no one." Damien said. I rolled my eyes, of course this guy was going to give us a hard time.

"Say what?" Angel said. "Speak up. I can't hear you playboy. So hard to hear you out here with all this wind. Better believe nobody else is gonna hear you out here either."

"You ain't gonna make it far with that leg either." Jack said shaking his head.

"Oh no, a break like that, you won't make it one step before you fall on your ass in the snow again." I assessed, turning my head to get a better look at the bloody bone jutting out from his leg.

"These two fools said they'd pay me a few dubs if I said I saw some gang shoot up the place alright, but I didn't hurt no one." Damien said.

I kicked the leg that wasn't broken. "You do realize that two people died that night. You are covering for the bastards who did that so in my book you as good as killed them too." My face was flushed with anger as I glared at the sorry excuse for a person in front of me.

"Let's let him turn into a fucking fudgesicle." Angel said as he turned to walk away.

"Come on man! I can't say nothing." Damien said, scared we would leave him in the snow.

"Well then you are gonna die right here." Bobby said as we all walked away.

"He thinks he's dead either way Bobby. Either we leave him to die in the snow or he tells us and those guys he ratted on kill him." I said over the wind and the pleading cries of Damien as we stood with our backs to him.

"He talk Wills, did you see his leg, it's just a matter of time." Bobby said. "And we'll get those guys who did it before they even know he gave them up."

Jack was looking back on the desperate man in the snow and Bobby and Angel yelled at him at the same time. "Turn around dick lips. What you looking at."

Just then we heard a yell from behind us. "I'll tell you all about them." Damien cried desperately. "Just call me an ambulance."

"Give me a name." Bobby demanded.

"Where can we find them?" Angel asked.

Damien told us all we needed to know. He didn't know the names of the guys, but he told us where we could find them and that one of them had a goatee. I cringed thinking about what how nasty that goatee would look as I dialed 9-1-1 and told the ambulance where to find Damien. Then we all got in Bobby's car and headed to the Casino to make the men who killed Miss Evie pay for what they had done.

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**I hope you guys liked it. As always review at will. It sounds horrible, but the more reviews I get the more likely I am to update quicker. It helps me know that people actually care about the story!**


	15. Chapter 14

**I don't even know how to begin apologizing for not updating in so long, but I will start with posting this chapter. I hope you guys like it and I'm really sorry that I took so long to update. I just got distracted with school and my other story.**

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I pulled on my jacket as we got out of Bobby's car at the Casino and I walked close to Jack as we went to the doors. I didn't know what was going to happen if we found these guys except for the fact that there would most likely be two less scumbags in Detroit by the end of the night. We walked inside and the loud music and sounds of people playing the different games greeted us. I pulled on the ends of my scarf as I looked around the room for the guy with a braided goatee. "Do you guys see them?" I asked as I scanned the room slowly, squinting so I could see further.

Angel was muttering under his breath about a goatee when I felt Jack tense up next to me. He hit Bobby on the arm, "Hey man there he is." He said quietly.

"Where?" Bobby asked as he leaned closer to Jack so he could see what he saw.

"Right there!" He said a little louder as he pointed. "The guy with the goatee!'

"Man put you hand down." Bobby said as he yanked Jack's arm down.

I could feel the anger rising as I kept my eyes glued to the sorry excuse of a human who was responsible for Miss Evie's death. I saw the guy with him turn and say something to him and they both looked at us. Just as Bobby said he could see them the guy with the goatee pulled out his gun. I grabbed Jack's arm and pulled down on it as I ducked. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I heard the gun fire and the gasps of everyone in the casino. After the second shot was fired Jack pulled me up and we all took off running after them. People kept standing up and getting in the way as they tried to get to safety and one fat guy who worked at the casino tried to stop us. I slipped behind him while he focused on trying to stop Jack, Angel, and Bobby.

My heart was hammering away in my chest as I ran out the door after the guys and I didn't know if it was because I was running or because I was scared shitless of the fact that I was running after killers practically by myself. I grabbed the pistol I kept with me and pulled it out as I ran through the door to the parking lot. The guys we were after were getting in their car as I got outside and I fired a couple of shots as they slammed the doors shut and sped away. Jack came up next to me and started firing at the car as it left the parking lot and I heard the satisfying ding of bullets hitting metal.

"You go girl!" Bobby said slapping Jack on the arm. "Let's get these mother fuckers.

We quickly piled into the back of Bobby's car and I struggled to get my seatbelt buckled. "It won't work. It won't buckle." I said a little franticly as Bobby whipped out of the parking spot and sped out onto the road. The force of the car turning so quickly threw me close to Jack and he wrapped an arm tightly around me.

"I've got you Wills." He said quickly pressing a kiss to my temple before he turned his attention back to the gun in his lap. "I'd reload that little thing if I were you." He said nodding towards my pistol that was in the seat next to me.

"I didn't bring bullets." I hissed through my teeth as the car fishtailed on the icy road. Jack tightened his grip on me as he looked at me with raised brows. "I didn't think I actually have to shoot the damn thing. I've had it four years and this was literally the first time a bullet has shot through that thing. This is the maiden voyage so don't judge me sweetheart!" I could hear Angel yelling at Bobby to go faster as the car jerked to the side again. I slipped out of Jack's grasp and hit the door on the other side of the car. "Damn Bobby, watch it!" I yelled.

"I've got no fucking traction on this fucking street!" He defended.

Jack put the gun in his lap to the side and pulled me into his lap. "There, feel better? I'm your human seatbelt."

I grabbed the gun he had put to the side and held it in my lap as I leaned back against him. "Much better." I could feel his heart hammering in his chest against my back and I could tell he was as freaked out and pumped up about the situation as I was. It was a weird mix of adrenaline and fear coursing through my veins. "We'll be ok Jackie." I said, turning and placing a quick kiss on the side of his forehead. He flashed me a tense smile as he tightened his grip on my waist. When I turned to look back at the car racing away in front of us, Bobby took a sharp turn and the car skidded, slamming into a row of cars parked along the side of the street. The force of the impact shook us all and my head smacked against the top of the window. "Damn Bobby!" I yelled, gingerly rubbing the spot where I was sure there would be a huge bruise tomorrow.

Bobby ignored me as he continued driving, "Damn I scratched the whole side of my fucking car!"

Jack held onto me as he leaned forward, yelling, "You gonna get these guys before you kill us?"

"Sit back and put that seatbelt on Jack." Bobby ordered, eyes locked on the car in front of us.

"Watch the snow man!" Angel cautioned as the car continued to fishtail down the road.

"I don't give a fuck about the snow!" Then, without warning, two bullets flew through the windshield. I ducked, putting my hands over my head as Jack did his best to turn us, trying to shield me with his body. I had never been more terrified than I was in that moment and by the way Jack's hands were shaking as he held onto me, I could tell he was freaking out too. "Hurry up and give me that shotgun!" Bobby yelled back at us.

Jack let go of me briefly to reach over and pick up the shotgun that was lying where I had been sitting before. He held it up, checking it, "There's no shells!"

"Wills check the trunk!" Bobby yelled.

"What do you want from it?" I asked, turning to look.

"Oh just sit down and shut up! Angel stick that cannon out the window and bust some shots." Bobby ordered.

"I'll put one in the back of their head!" Angel said as he proceeded to stick his pistol out the window and shoot.

When the first shot rang out I flinched as Bobby continued to yell encouragements at Angel. I leaned back, pressing my back firmly against Jack's chest, feeling his heart racing away in his chest, matching up with my own racing pulse. "Jackie…" I said nervously as the car in front of us began to swerve erratically.

"You got them!" Bobby yelled out as he sped the car up to catch them.

"It's gonna be fine Wills." Jack whispered shakily in my ear, squeezing me tightly against him as the car in front of us hit a snow drift and came to a stop.

"Hold on tight back there you two and watch this!" Bobby yelled back as we sped forward.

I realized what Bobby was going to do a split second before it happened and I grabbed tightly onto Jack's arms, bracing my legs against the back of Angel's seat right before we slammed into the stopped car. "Shit!" I yelled through gritted teeth as the force of the impact jerked us around.

"Don't let them get away, don't let them get away!" Angel yelled as I opened my eyes to see the car speeding away yet again. More shots were fired at us and Angel got out of his seat, leaning out the window to fire a few more rounds at the car in front of us.

The car jerked as another one of the tires gave out and I heard Angel shout as he fell forward, almost falling completely out of the window. "Angel!" I yelled, leaning forward to try to grab the back of his jacket, anything to keep him from falling completely out of the speeding death trap we were in.

Bobby reached over and grabbed the back of Angel's jacket firmly and yanked him back through the window. "Get your ass back in here." We could all hear the sound of screeching metal against the pavement, "Shit another blow out!"

At this point I was trembling in Jack's arms. I wanted to get these guys, I really did, but this chase was getting more dangerous than I thought it would be. "Let's just stop. Bobby let's just stop!" Jack yelled over my shoulder as he rubbed one of my arms reassuringly.

"Shut up Jack, we'll ride it out on the rims. We'll get these motherfuckers." Bobby shot back at him. Sparks were flying from the metal on the asphalt as we drove onto the bridge and gained on the car in front of us. Bobby brought the car up close enough and jerked the wheel, hitting their rear bumper, causing them to swerve. "I got 'em, I got 'em now." Bobby said as he brought the car up almost even with the other one and rammed them repeatedly until their car began to spin. "Hold on!" He yelled as he turned the wheel sharply, sending our car flying into the side of the other, causing it to flip and go flying through the air, landing on its roof.

"That's what I'm talking about Bobby!" Angel said, slapping Bobby on the arm as he and Jack cheered.

Bobby brought the car to a stop and I opened the door, scrambling out of Jack's lap and into the cold wind. Jack followed close behind me and we both took off in a jog after Angel and Bobby. "Jack, you and Wills stay here." Bobby said over his shoulder as he and Angel continued towards the wrecked car.

I started to continue after them, but Jack grabbed my arm, stopping me. "Bobby said to wait Wills." He said, pulling me back towards him.

"But Jack…" I started to protest. I wanted to get these guys, I wanted to make them pay. Pay for killing Miss Evie and for the ridiculously dangerous chase they had just led us on.

"Bobby told us to stay back for a reason." Jack reasoned, sliding his hand down my arm and locking his fingers with mine.

I knew I should be freezing cold with the wind and snow whipping around us the way it was, but I couldn't feel a thing. I was just numb. This was about to be over. We were about to avenge Evie's death and then go on with our lives. Jack and I were going to New York, Angel would keep fooling around with Sophie until one of them did something stupid, Jerry would keep being a family man, and Bobby would do whatever the hell Bobby did when he disappeared. But Miss Evie, she wouldn't get to do anything because of those two bastards. At that realization, a freezing cold tear slid down my face and I shivered involuntarily. With that initial shiver I began to shake uncontrollably and Jack pulled me close to him. I stumbled numbly towards him, turning to bury my face in his chest, tears now flowing freely down my face as Jack wrapped his arms around me and watched his brothers kicking the men who had shot Miss Evie. When two shots were fired, Jack jumped and quickly turned away and pulling me with him, one of his hands shielding my head from the bullets that hadn't even been fired at us.

Breaking free of his tight hold, I put a hand on his arm and used the other one to force him to look me in the eye. "It's ok now Jackie." I said reassuringly as I rubbed my hand up and down his arm, doing what I could to make him feel safe. I had been so caught up in what I had been feeling that I didn't even realize what this must have been doing to Jack. I stood on my tip toes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips and as I pulled back Jack put his arms around me again and pulled me close, crushing me to his chest as he buried his face in my hair.

I heard footsteps in the snow as Bobby and Angel approached. "Come on!" Bobby said, slapping Jack on the shoulder.

"Did you get them?" Jack asked, turning to follow them and pulling me along with him.

"Yeah we got 'em. They killed Ma and we got 'em."

_~JOM~_

When we got back to the house, Jack led me inside and made me sit on the couch. "Sophie can you get her a blanket?" He asked quietly as he walked into the kitchen.

I hadn't been able to stop shaking since I had started back on the bridge, so when Sophie handed me the blanket I gladly accepted it. "Thanks Soph." I said quietly, smiling faintly as I curled up on the couch and pulled the corners of the blanket tight around me. I hadn't realized it had been so late, or early I guess, because it was now light outside and I could hear the sounds of people starting their cars and going to work.

Jack came back in the room with two steaming mugs and handed one to me before settling down next to me on the couch. "Hot chocolate." He said in response to my questioning gaze.

"With tiny marshmallows?" I asked, eyes lighting up as I brought the cup of liquid goodness up to my mouth.

"Yeah, with tiny marshmallows." Jack said smiling.

I sat up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "You're the best Jackie." I took a quick sip of the hot drink, relishing the feel of the hot liquid making its way to my stomach and warming me up from the inside out. I turned slightly and leaned back against Jack and he readjusted, putting his arm around me as we both sipped on the hot chocolate.

Bobby walked through the room, shaking his head at the sight of me and Jack on the couch before heading into the dining room. Sophie trailed closely behind him with a first aid kit in her hands, muttering something to herself in Spanish. "Sophie I can patch Bobby up if you don't want to." I called after her.

"No, no, you stay there. I will do it." She said shaking her head and motioning for me to stay where I was. "I just feel bad for the poor dog that had to put its mouth on Bobby."

I finished off my hot chocolate and closed my eyes, thinking I could get a few minutes of rest, but just as I started to drift off I heard the sound of tires crunching in the snow and Angel yelled, "Hey y'all police in the house."

There was a commotion in the kitchen and Sophie rushed through the living room and up the stairs, coming back seconds later with something silky looking in her hands. She shoved what turned out to be a robe into Bobby's hands and he quickly put it on before sitting down on the other side of me on the couch. I tried to suppress a smile at the sight of Bobby in the girly robe, "You look nice Bobby." I whispered.

If looks could kill, I would have been dead on the spot as Bobby shot me one of his signature glares. I felt Jack tense as footsteps approached and I squeezed his hand as Angel's voice carried into the room. "Cops are always welcome in the Mercer house. It makes us feel safe and cozy."

Officer Green let out a whistle when his eyes landed on Bobby, "Ain't you sexy?" He said, a wide smile on his face.

"Thank you." Bobby said, standing up and straightening the robe. "Jackie wanted this little number for himself, but I fought him for it."

I snorted and ducked my head to hide my smile, a smile that quickly disappeared with Green's next question. "What happened to your hand? You didn't happen to forget our little conversation at your brother's house about not interfering with our investigation?"

"Oh no no no. This is hockey, an old Mercer family tradition. You remember that don't you Green? You played hockey. The guys can be pretty rough out on that ice."

"Where's your car Bobby? It's not outside."

We all froze for a minute, but Sophie quickly gave Green an answer, "We left it at Jeremiah's."

"Yeah, Jerry drove us home." Angel added. "You know Volvo's are one of the safest cars out there. Volvo's are incredible man when there's a blizzard outside. So we…"

He was cut off when Green's weasel of a partner stepped forward, holding up a Ziploc baggie. "Hey Gretzky you know what this is?"

"A hair from your wife's tit?" Bobby asked innocently.

"Try from your thick skull. Forensics found it on a pair of contract killers we found dead this morning."

I tried to hold back laughter as Green chuckled. "Fishing for a confession with a phony hair?" Bobby shook his head, "That's an old one boys. Come on Green." He crossed back over to the couch and sat back down next to me as Green continued to laugh. "You know how I'll know when you got my hair off of my body right? When I hear the jail cell doors close behind me girls." He turned and gave me a quick wink and I smiled back at him.

"Ok then you tell me what they told you." Green asked all business again. "You think that these thugs were hired to kill Evelyn? Is that it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Green." Bobby said, rubbing his head.

"Wait Green. How do you go from petty thug, to contract killer? And if they were the shooters like you say, they would have never told us who they was working for anyway. Even if they got one hell of a ass whooping." Angel reasoned.

Fowler laughed to himself, crossing his arms over his chest, "You think you're pretty cute don't you? He does. Yeah, well everybody is a smart guy until I bust them in the mouth." He crossed over towards Angel quickly and Angel stood up to meet him.

I tried to get up too, but Jack held me down as Sophie got between to two hotheads and Green told Fowler to wait. "You gonna bust me in my mouth?" Angel asked, getting up in Fowler's face as he did so.

"Hey now this ain't what I'm here for!" Green shouted as he got between the two of them and pushed them apart. "Hey stop!" He yelled, when Fowler continued antagonizing Angel. "Look Bobby, if you've got something, you tell it to me and if it is something vital we will run with it, but don't try to take on Detroit by your damn self. Keep knocking on the Devil's door long enough and sooner or later somebody's gonna answer you. With that he left, but his words continued to echo in my ears as I gripped Jack's hand tightly.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it! As always review at will and here comes the shameless plug for my other story. If you watch Supernatural and love it you should read my story The French Success!**


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